About NePal
Nepal is a small country located in southern Asia between India and China (Pradyumna, Matinuzzaman, Proud, and rose, 2016). Nepal is most commonly known for being the home of the world’s tallest Mountain Mount Everest. Though Nepal has a large tourist industry the country has always been classified as developing. In more recent years Nepal has faced a major setback after experiencing an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.8 resulting in the loss of over 9,000 lives and extensive damage to settlements (Rafferty, 2016). The earthquake has had lasting effects on the country due to the inability to fix all of the damage that was caused by the earthquake. Businesses in all sectors of the agricultural industry have experienced a decline in profit as structures, and tools have been damaged due to the earthquake. Even after the natural disaster Nepal’s tourist industry is still thriving which allows for many companies to sell to a wealthier cliental and in turn restart the businesses that were lost (Wearn, 2016).
What area is most suitable for Hop Farming?
Nepal has a landmass of 147 181 km2 with 28.7% of it being used for different agricultural purposes (Karan, Zuberi, Proud, and Rose, 2016) (World Bank, 2015). Nepal’s agricultural regions can be broken down into three sub regions known as the Himalayas, hill region, and the terai. The cascade rhizomes would be best suited to grow in the hill region as it is the most fertile region within Nepal therefore allowing for the hop plants to have the ideal area for optimal growth (Sherestha, N/D). The rhizomes should be planted in this region during early spring to allow for the roots to take full hold of the soil. An excess amount of water must be provided to each hop plant during the growing season as Nepal receives more than 80% of the rainfall during the moonshine season which starts towards the end of June therefore not allowing for the plants to receive enough water to stay healthy and grow during months prior to this (World Travel Guide, N/D). The growing and production of hop plants in Nepal is more than possible but it must be insured that plants are receiving a sufficient amount of water during drier seasons in order to continue growth.
Nepals Beer Industry
Majority of beer sold within Kathmandu (Nepal’s Capital) is made up of lager only allowing for 1% of the beer sold to be different types of brews (Karki, 2014). This large majority of lager beer being sold and produced within Nepal allows for a new beer market to be formed. Approximately 92.3% of Nepalese citizens drink lager therefore allowing for the selling of a new product/brew to be appealing to already large beer drinking cliental (Laurence, 2015). Due to majority of beer consumed in Nepal being lagers cascade hops provide companies and famers with a new opportunity to expand the brand by selling a new and “exotic” type of beer. The production of ale with Canadian grown hops will bring forth a new affordable alcoholic beverage to those in Nepal. The new market will result in cascade hops to be widely desired by brewers that are trying to increase company sales as the plants will provide an exciting and intriguing new taste of beer.
Benefits to Nepal
By exporting hop rhizomes to Nepal a larger number of hop farms can be started throughout the country therefore allowing for the already booming beer industry to experience a drastic increase in production and sales. Hop farms require a large area of land to be profitable therefore requiring for a large amount of manual labour to successfully run the operation. With the increase in sales the economy will also experience an increase. This increases will result in more Nepalese citizens finding employment or receiving a job with an increased salary. A large number of citizens within Nepal live on an income of $14 USD per month making it extremely hard to afford basic necessities (International Fund for Agriculture Development, N/A). With the beer industry experiencing an increase with the new cascade hop plants a demand for workers will be extremely high therefore allowing for individuals to acquire a working position thus increasing their finical status.
The farming of the cascade hop plant will also allow for a new type of beer (ale) to be produced on a larger scale throughout Nepal. The production of a new product can be sold throughout the country and also exported. Many people world-wide enjoy trying new flavours or a different countries beer therefore by having a new product available Nepal can increase beer sales not only within the country but also on an international scale. Exporting Nepalese beer will drastically benefit the economy therefore resulting in a cyclical effect on the entire country of Nepal.
The farming of the cascade hop plant will also allow for a new type of beer (ale) to be produced on a larger scale throughout Nepal. The production of a new product can be sold throughout the country and also exported. Many people world-wide enjoy trying new flavours or a different countries beer therefore by having a new product available Nepal can increase beer sales not only within the country but also on an international scale. Exporting Nepalese beer will drastically benefit the economy therefore resulting in a cyclical effect on the entire country of Nepal.