A farmer from Bihar grew a special vegetable that costs Rs 85,000 per kg. Interestingly, the vegetable will treat cancer. Hop Shoots, a special vegetable grown by a farmer in Bihar took the social media by storm after an IAS officer tweeted a collage of two photos and wrote: ”One kilogram of this vegetable costs a little less than ₹ 1 lakh! The world’s costliest vegetable, ‘hop-shoots’ is being cultivated by Amresh Singh an enterprising farmer from Bihar, the first one in India. Can be a game-changer for Indian farmers.”
Hailing from the Karamdhih village, the 38-year-old farmer Singh has been growing the world’s costliest crop in his farmland in Bihar’s Aurangabad. As per a New Indian Express report, the farmer invested Rs 2.5 lakhs in the production process. The crop is identified as hop-shoots, a plant that is available in the international market. He sells it for a whopping Rs 85,000 a kilogram.
“I am happy to say that more than 60 percent of its cultivation has happened successfully,” Singh was quoted as saying by New Indian Express.
The hop (Humulus lupulus – is a perennial plant) is a native of North America and Europe. It is to be noted that the hop shoots were believed to be a weed until its properties were known.
As per the website agrifarming.in, hop shoots have ”antibacterial effects”. Apart from these many benefits, it is also used for bittering, flavouring’ and as a ‘stability agent in beer’.
One of the main reasons why it is expensive is because the crop is mostly seen in international markets. However, it only seen in Indian markets only when a customer or someone places a special order. The special vegetable reportedly sold for £1000 (Rs 1.01 lakh) pounds a kg even 6 years ago in international markets.
As per several reports, hop-shoots play an important role in creating antibodies that help fight dangerous diseases like TB. Its acids are known to assist kill cancer cells and block leukaemia cells. However, Amresh Singh isn’t the first one to cultivate such a crop in India. Earlier, it was grown in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul but didn’t much reach due to poor marketing.
Expensive fruits in the world
Fruits are delicious and completely healthy. Mango, pineapple, and apple are so common that can be cherished during their season and used to rejuvenate our bodies. However, owing to their exorbitant prices, there are certain fruits that we would think twice about eating. We’ll look at a couple of them in the following lines.
Buddha Shaped Pear
This fruit, which comes from China’s Habei province, resembles a laughing Buddha idol. It originated in China when he successfully grew the fruit in the shape of Buddha using a special plastic mold. These will set you back $9 a piece.
Cubed watermelon
Watermelons with a cube appearance are grown in wooden boxes to achieve this unusual shape. They are grown in Japan and cost Rs 60,000 per kilogramme.
Sekai Ichi Apples
For a 907gram apple, it will cost up to 21 bucks. This is another Japanese fruit that is regarded as one of the most exotic in the world because of its large size, mild sweetness and richness in Vitamin C.
Ruby Roman Grapes
These grapes, which are as large as a ping pong ball, will cost as much as Rs 3,02,450 (4000 dollars) for just a few grapes. They also have an especially sweet flavour, which justifies their exorbitant price.
Taiyo no Tamago Mangoes
These mangoes are priced at Rs 2,26,837 for two of them, and they have a rare combination of sweet and tangy flavour that justifies their high price.