National
Yarcha harvest season begins
A large number of people, including women and children, in the district have started moving to the highlands as the season to harvest Yarchagumba (Cordyceps synensis) has begun.Krishna Prasad Gautam
The precious herb is collected from mid-April to mid-July every year.
Locals said people from more than a dozen VDCs, including Gotamkot, Syalakhadi, Jang, Hukam, Ranmamaikot, Taksera, Mahat, Kakri and Kol in Rukum have been moving northwards to pick the caterpillar fungus in the past two weeks. People in the neighbouring districts of Jajarkot, Rolpa, Salyan, Myagdi, Dolpa and Baglung have started flocking to the highlands.
Lanka Bahadur Malla of Gotamkot said over the telephone that hundreds of people from various villages in the district go to collect the herb on a daily basis.
“Villages look deserted nowadays as people have gone to collect Yarchagumba,” he said. Nanda Prasad Pun, a member of the committee formed to manage Yarchagumba harvesting, said licence distribution for picking the herb started from the first week of April. “More than 400 people are receiving the license on a daily basis,” he said, adding that the harvest is good this year and around 15,000 foragers are estimated to participate in the harvesting.
Yarchagumba worth around Rs 150 million is transacted in a season from the district, he said, adding that traders are charged Rs 15,000 each for permission to collect Yarchagumba while local people are charged Rs 3,000 each. He said more than 100 volunteers will be mobilised to provide security as well as medical assistance to foragers.