Yarsagumba which is high valued caterpillar fungus is becoming important source or rural livelihood mainly in Western Disctricts of Nepal since last 20 years. Along with Nepal it is also highly praised in India, Tibet and Bhutan. In respect to Tibet and Nepal, India has less production of Cordyceps but from this news it is also clear that even in India the highland people prefer this fungus and fetch high price. Reports from different countries suggest that the collection of this caterpillar fungus is not sustainable and people are collecting by their own traditional ways and ideas. Trampling effects is seems to be main cause to make this fungus endangered. So, appropriate step is necessary to maintain its availability. Please read this news to make more idea about Cordyceps of India.
From April onwards and up to June-end, villagers from the Johar and Darma valleys of the Munsiyari-Dharchula subdivisions of Pitthoragarh proceed towards Himalayan heights of Chiplakot region to dug out a special herb called “yarchagumba” (cordyceps sinensis).
For more than a decade, for villagers living in the higher Himalayan region, this has been a primary avocation since it was found that the Tibetan medicinal plant is also in abundance in the meadows of Chiplakot besides the Himalayan sub-alpine region of western Nepal.
“Yarsagumba is an intomophilus fungus found primarily in the sub-alpine region 3200 to 4000 metres above sea level.
“The fungus is parasitic like the caterpillar,” says CS Negi of the department of zoology, Government Post-Graduate College, Pitthoragarh.
He has done extensive research on this plant under the National Medicinal Plants Board, department of Ayush, union ministry of health and family welfare.
“The extraction of Yarsagumba began in this part of the Himalayas in 1998 when Tibetan traders learnt of its presence here and began trafficking it to Tibet and China via Nepal,” says Ram Gopal Verma, district forest officer, Pitthoragarh.
He says the miraculous impact of “cordyceps sinessis” became known to the outside world when a few years back Chinese women athletes were found using “yarsagumba” to energise them.
“It became a major news published in mainstream newspapers of America like Newsweek,” he says.
The consumption of this aphrodisiac plant by the Chinese and Tibetans began some 1,500 years ago when some Chinese herdsman observed that their livestock became energetic after eating a fungus-like grass.
About 1,000 years later the Ming emperors started using it as a tonic after developing powerful portions from it. Old Tibetan medical practitioners believed that “cordyceps sinensis” enhanced lung functioning, bolsters kidney energy, cured cough, impotence, spermatorrhoea, asthma, aching back and knees and general debility caused by long-term illness,” says Negi.
Yarsagumba fetches a good price for retail as well as in the wholesale market. “Last year eight forest panchayats of the Darma valley collected 68 kg of yarsagumba legally from their assigned forest panchayat areas and sold it at Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per kg to traders coming from Tibet via Nepal,” says DFO Verma.
But because of Olympics and a strict vigil on the borders, the sale was less with few buyers from Tibet and Nepal.
“Villagers in and around Chiplakot hills at a height between 3200 to 4000 metres above sea level, specially Sungdum, Philam, Bon, Baling, Duktu and Dantu villages in the Darma valley, Ralamdhura, PanchChuli, Nagnidhura and Namik from the Johar valley, leave for the high peaks in the last week of April to extract the plant. Every villager earns at least Rs 10,000 to 15,000 during this period before the rains,” says Khagendra Bhandari from Panchchuli in the Johar valley.
“We are receiving complaints of Nepali and Tibetan traders sneaking into Chiplakot and illegally extracting this miracle drug. Last year our team captured some firearms besides 250 gm of yarsagumba illegally extracted by non-Indian traders of Nepal and Tibet,” says Verma, adding that this year he has sent a 29-member team, including Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel, to flush out intruders from the sanctuary area.
“Following the over-exploitation of yarsagumba, a decline of 30 to 50 per cent of harvest has been noticed in recent years, specially the last two years,” says Chandra Singh Negi, a researcher.
He says almost 80 per cent population in 19 villages of three valleys depend on collection of “yarsagumba” which is hindering the regeneration potential of the species as the fruiting body needs time to mature.
“Yarsagumba” is proving to be economically fruitful for the villagers of the upper Himalayan region where no other economic activity exists.
“There is now a new trend with villagers traditionally earning through cultivating potato and rajma leaving their crops in the fields and setting for high altitudes for more than three months. During that time, the studies of their children and the upkeep of their lifestock is affected,” says Kailash Koranga, a student leader from Munsiyari.
The over-exploitation of this species is limiting the future prosperity of people in this remote Himalayan region. As Negi puts it: “Extension programmes and awareness campaigns should be carried out 7among the villagers to encourage them to cultivate other medicinal plants which could boost economy, and this diversion would be able to save Yarsagumba from over-exploitation.
More than 400 families in Dharchula and Munsiyari sub- divisions are extracting this miracle drug from Chiplakot , Panchachuli, Ralam Dhura, Nagini Dhura.
As the police and forest department have started taking strict measures to prevent the smuggling of this herb, the villagers now sell their collection cheaper at the rate of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per kg.
“The price paid by the villagers in the form of destruction of their traditional agricultural economy and personal feuds, is much higher than their earnings,” observes Ranjeet Visvakarma, a prominent UKD leader.
Source: From April onwards and up to June-end, villagers from the Johar and Darma valleys of the Munsiyari-Dharchula subdivisions of Pitthoragarh proceed towards Himalayan heights of Chiplakot region to dug out a special herb called “yarchagumba” (cordyceps sinensis).
For more than a decade, for villagers living in the higher Himalayan region, this has been a primary avocation since it was found that the Tibetan medicinal plant is also in abundance in the meadows of Chiplakot besides the Himalayan sub-alpine region of western Nepal.
“Yarsagumba is an intomophilus fungus found primarily in the sub-alpine region 3200 to 4000 metres above sea level.
“The fungus is parasitic like the caterpillar,” says CS Negi of the department of zoology, Government Post-Graduate College, Pitthoragarh.
He has done extensive research on this plant under the National Medicinal Plants Board, department of Ayush, union ministry of health and family welfare.
“The extraction of Yarsagumba began in this part of the Himalayas in 1998 when Tibetan traders learnt of its presence here and began trafficking it to Tibet and China via Nepal,” says Ram Gopal Verma, district forest officer, Pitthoragarh.
He says the miraculous impact of “cordyceps sinessis” became known to the outside world when a few years back Chinese women athletes were found using “yarsagumba” to energise them.
“It became a major news published in mainstream newspapers of America like Newsweek,” he says.
The consumption of this aphrodisiac plant by the Chinese and Tibetans began some 1,500 years ago when some Chinese herdsman observed that their livestock became energetic after eating a fungus-like grass.
About 1,000 years later the Ming emperors started using it as a tonic after developing powerful portions from it. Old Tibetan medical practitioners believed that “cordyceps sinensis” enhanced lung functioning, bolsters kidney energy, cured cough, impotence, spermatorrhoea, asthma, aching back and knees and general debility caused by long-term illness,” says Negi.
Yarsagumba fetches a good price for retail as well as in the wholesale market. “Last year eight forest panchayats of the Darma valley collected 68 kg of yarsagumba legally from their assigned forest panchayat areas and sold it at Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per kg to traders coming from Tibet via Nepal,” says DFO Verma.
But because of Olympics and a strict vigil on the borders, the sale was less with few buyers from Tibet and Nepal.
“Villagers in and around Chiplakot hills at a height between 3200 to 4000 metres above sea level, specially Sungdum, Philam, Bon, Baling, Duktu and Dantu villages in the Darma valley, Ralamdhura, PanchChuli, Nagnidhura and Namik from the Johar valley, leave for the high peaks in the last week of April to extract the plant. Every villager earns at least Rs 10,000 to 15,000 during this period before the rains,” says Khagendra Bhandari from Panchchuli in the Johar valley.
“We are receiving complaints of Nepali and Tibetan traders sneaking into Chiplakot and illegally extracting this miracle drug. Last year our team captured some firearms besides 250 gm of yarsagumba illegally extracted by non-Indian traders of Nepal and Tibet,” says Verma, adding that this year he has sent a 29-member team, including Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel, to flush out intruders from the sanctuary area.
“Following the over-exploitation of yarsagumba, a decline of 30 to 50 per cent of harvest has been noticed in recent years, specially the last two years,” says Chandra Singh Negi, a researcher.
He says almost 80 per cent population in 19 villages of three valleys depend on collection of “yarsagumba” which is hindering the regeneration potential of the species as the fruiting body needs time to mature.
“Yarsagumba” is proving to be economically fruitful for the villagers of the upper Himalayan region where no other economic activity exists.
“There is now a new trend with villagers traditionally earning through cultivating potato and rajma leaving their crops in the fields and setting for high altitudes for more than three months. During that time, the studies of their children and the upkeep of their lifestock is affected,” says Kailash Koranga, a student leader from Munsiyari.
The over-exploitation of this species is limiting the future prosperity of people in this remote Himalayan region. As Negi puts it: “Extension programmes and awareness campaigns should be carried out 7among the villagers to encourage them to cultivate other medicinal plants which could boost economy, and this diversion would be able to save Yarsagumba from over-exploitation.
More than 400 families in Dharchula and Munsiyari sub- divisions are extracting this miracle drug from Chiplakot , Panchachuli, Ralam Dhura, Nagini Dhura.
As the police and forest department have started taking strict measures to prevent the smuggling of this herb, the villagers now sell their collection cheaper at the rate of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per kg.
“The price paid by the villagers in the form of destruction of their traditional agricultural economy and personal feuds, is much higher than their earnings,” observes Ranjeet Visvakarma, a prominent UKD leader.
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