Price of Caterpillar Fungus / Yarsagumba - Himalayan Viagra ( Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Reached NRs 20,33,280 Per KG : What a Crazy!

Wanna Buy Caterpillar Fungs / Yarsagumba

I really wondered when I encountered with the news posted in www.nypost.com regarding Caterpillar Fungus (Yarsagumba or Yarchagunbu) price. New Yorkers are getting US$ 800 per ounce (35.3 Ounces = 1 Kilograms) for dried Yarsagumba. It means they are getting approx US$ 28240 or NRs 20,33,280 per kg. ( US$ 1 = NRs 72).What a crazy price and crazy fungus lovers!. This really forces me to think many times regarding Nepalese Yarsagumba, market scenario in Nepal and real benefits getting by the real collectors : Collectors from the remote highlands of Nepal. 

In spite of being the main source of income for the rural mountain inhabitants ,Nepal Government, and many Research Organizations in Nepal are not paying clear attention for this Himalayan treasure or Yellow Living Gold. We are already late for the sustainable management of resource and market setup for the collected amounts. It would be really praiseworthy to take immediate actions for the further research, exploration and management of the Caterpillar Fungus of Nepal Himalaya. In this moment, I am missing Dolpa and Dolpali people very much, where I spend my two years of research days, looking from the basic things associated with the livelihoods and upto  making understanding on the ecological parameters associated with this fungus. I would be really pleased to provide any sorts of information from my own experience, sharing of research ideas, findings and publications from my side. Please feel free to contact or write me at shiva.devkota@gmail.com

If you are interested to know more about Yarsagumba, its status, distribution, present scenario and further recommendations for its sustainable harvesting in Nepal Himalayas, it might be interesting to you http://shivadevkota.blogspot.ch/2011/12/new-book-chapter-on-ophiocordyceps.html

Same lines posted in the nypost.com are pasted in the text below:

Caterpillar Fungus in Sell : Market Ceter at Xining, China

It's a stiff price to pay for a fungus-encrusted silkworm. But New Yorkers are gladly shelling out $800 an ounce for these dried dead bodies -- and the sexual prowess they promise.

The vile virility remedy known as "Himalayan Viagra" works a little differently from the blue pill. There's no immediate reaction, but sprinkle them on your corn flakes every morning and users swear it'll make your bedsprings bounce. The wonder drug -- called "yarsagumba" or "dong chong xia cao" -- can also be brewed into an anti-impotence tea.

The insects come from the highlands of Nepal, where they are attacked by a beige fungus, cordyceps sinensis, that kills and entombs them. "It's like the ultimate invasion of the body snatchers," said Thomas Leung, owner of Kamwo, a Chinese herbal pharmacy on Grand Street. Hoping to resurrect their love lives, older men are blowing wads of cash on the creepy caterpillar cocktails. "It would cost you about $200 per serving," Leung said. 

Leung remembers the ingredient selling for a mere $6.50 decades ago, but the price has rocketed to half the price of gold in recent years. "It's hard to come by, and the demand for it is very high because of there's a lot of hype," he said. The infected worms are picked by peasants during the summer in isolated villages along the Annapurna trail. Schools shut down for the lucrative picking season so children can join the hunt for the expensive aphrodisiac. But where there's sex and money, violence can't be far behind. Competition for the cash crop between remote mountain towns has turned bloody, with mobs murdering poachers. In June 2009, a mob of 65 villagers from the Menang clan in Nar bludgeoned seven poachers from a neighboring Gorkha tribe. The Nar men -- one from each household -- first slew two rivals with primitive tools and tossed their bodies into a crevasse. Then the gang ripped another five encroachers to pieces and cold-heartedly discarded them. Next month a verdict is expected to come down for 35 men charged in the crime.

Leung believes local interest in the mystical worm is based more on folklore than on serious Eastern medicine.
The sweet-tasting substance is commonly used in formulas to treat chronic asthma and is a centuries-old remedy for lung and kidney health, he said. "The kidneys are responsible for sexual and reproductive functions, so people kind of stretch that and say, 'Well if you consume this, you'll have that,' " he said.

"Very few people who sell this are going to tell you that, because they want to keep the hype up," he added.
Leung said the ingredient is peddled in cheaper supplements and the fungus has been synthetically duplicated.
But he's no snake-oil salesman. "People always ask, 'Is it really that good?' " he said. "And I say, 'It's not $800 good.' "