Many mountain villages here wear a deserted look while high altitude Himalayan regions are teeming with people looking to harvest the Yarsagumba (Cordyceps Sinesis) herb. The smugglers of this herb pay the harvesters more than the Government rates due to which many villagers prefer to sell it to the smugglers who then supply it in the international markets.
The melting of snow in the higher Himalayas enables the collection of the Yarsagumba herb. At this time, the residents of various villages also leave their hamlets to collect this costly herb from the high mountains. The Yarsagumba can generally be collected only till the start of the rainy season. The villages in the border region have left the elderly and children at homes and the villagers are trying to make the most of the limited time to harvest the herb.
On the other hand, the high altitude areas that see scant human presence are teeming with people attracted by the herb. These people spend between one to two months collecting Yarsagumba. This herb is sold at a very high price in the international black market. From Uttarakhand, the smugglers transport it to China via Nepal. The State Government and Forest Department have taken some measures but these have proved mostly incapable of preventing the smuggling of this herb.
In recent years, the villagers used to move towards the high mountains to collect the herb by the last week of April. But this time, due to snowfall in the higher reaches, the villagers got a chance to go towards these areas only after the first week of May. Most villagers especially the youth wait eagerly for this time when they go to collect the herb that fetches a handsome price in the international market.
However, the State Government has not yet implemented an effective system to regulate this trade and benefit the locals while also ensuring environmental conservation. The State also loses considerable revenue due to the lack of regularised collection and trade of this herb. The Forest Department has facilitated a system of yarsagumba sale to the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation by villagers permitted by the Gram Pradhan but this system has not proved to be successful. The herb sells at lakhs of rupees per kg but neither the villagers collecting the herb nor the State Government are able to derive the full potential benefit from this trade while the smugglers thrive.