Hops cultivation becoming popular with Himachal farmers

Keylong (HP), Oct 20 (ANI): Farmers in Keylong region of Himachal Pradesh are getting good returns by cultivating hops.

Hops are female flower clusters, commonly known as cones or strobiles, of the hop plant, which are primarily used as a flavouring and stability agent in beer.

Hops have emerged as one of the main cash crops of the region and are being cultivated in around 63 hectares of the land area.

More and more farmers are taking to cultivating hops because of its lucrative value as one kilogram of hops fetches the farmers anywhere from between rupees 60 to 70.

"It is very easy to grow. We do not have to sow it again and again. We have to only change the its rope or thread, to support the plant. People are benefiting a lot from it," said Shamsher Singh, a farmer.he various varieties of hops cultivated in the region are the hybrid and late cluster.

The hybrid cluster is rich in alpha acid content and is much in demand in the beer industry.

"The hops grown here is the hybrid 2 variety which has a high content of alpha acid and last year we found that it has approximately 13.1 alpha content in it, and it has got a boost because of its use in the beer industry," said S.K. Gupta, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Lahaul and Spiti.

The cultivation of hops began since 1979. Last year there was 41.80 metric tonnes production of hops in the region. (ANI)