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Rs 1.75m collected from yarchagumba hunters
MUGU, MAY 30 -
The government has so far collected Rs. 1.75 million as revenue from yarchagumba collectors in Mugu. The amount has been collected as entrance fee from yarchagumba collectors.
According to the village development committee (VDC) office, Mugu, the said amount has been collected from eight different entrance points of the VDC. This year, the district development committee (DDC) has permitted the concerned VDCs to collect entrance fees.
Every year, after the snow starts to melt in May, herb hunters scour the sub-alpine region looking for yarchagumba which is also known as Himalayan herbal viagra.
They grow at altitudes of 3,300-4,500m. This year, more than 4,000 people are on a herb hunting mission.
Locals from Jumla, Jajarkot, Kalikot, Dailekh, Humla and Bajura make their months-long campaign to collect yarchagumba.
This year, the entry fee for village people has been fixed at Rs. 200. Similarly, Rs. 500 is the entrance fee for district residents and Rs 1,000 for people from neighbouring districts, said Nanda Bahadur Malla, secretary at Mugu VDC.
According to DDC Mugu, of the total collected amount, the VDCs and the DDC share 40 percent each and the reamining is spend for lodging and fooding facilities of the security team and revenue collectors deployed in the area.
Last year, due to a conflict, the revenue team had to return emptyhanded. However, this year, the DDC had invited the locals for a discussion prior to the yarchagumba season. Smilarly, the revenue team had arranged security at every collection point one week before the season started. Yarchagumba is an insect that grows like a plant from the top of its head and is said to have medicinal powers that can cure cancer.
Cordyceps Sinesis is a fungus locally called yarchagumba, known for its high value in the traditional medicines market. It is used in Chinese herbal medicine and is said to be good for everything ranging from headaches, stomach-aches and respiratory diseases to arresting bleeding and is also believed to be a cure for sexual impotency.
Yarchagumba is special to Nepal and it is found in the north-western regions of Dolpo and Humla.
Dhurba Kattel, a local of Srinagar VDC, said that one person collects around 50-100 pieces of yarchagumba a day. According to him, one piece costs Rs. 500 (big piece) and Rs. 200 (small piece). Demand and price of yarchagumba is very high in the international market.
Until recently, collecting yarchagumba was illegal but this changed once the government realised it could earn a lot from the trade while providing relief to the mountain people by allowing them to collect the herb.
Posted on: 2010-05-31 08:16
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