Harvest wisely

We must follow sustainable practices to prevent extinction of yarsagumba.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, images of scores of people hovering over the grass looking for yarsagumba in mountain meadows made few appearances on social and mainstream media this year. The nationwide lockdown caused the harvesters, who camp for almost two months, in May-June, in the yarsagumba-abundant highlands in north-western Nepal, had to shelve their plans. Some of the harvesters who made their way to the meadows surreptitiously faced arrests . When local authorities allowed them to jump in belatedly, the caterpillar fungi had all but decayed.