Yarsagumba is harvested by Nepalese villagers who sell it for more than $25 a gram (retail prices soar to $150 per gram or more). But as Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, the growth in demand has made yarsagumba supplies scarce. Villagers who once collected 150 to 200 pieces of the fungus in a month are now only finding only 10, 20 or 30 pieces. AFP also cites climate change as a possible reason for shrinking supplies. The regions where the fungus normally grows have experienced lower levels of snow and rain as well as higher temperatures in the past few years. At 2,500 metres above sea level and two days’ trek from the nearest town with paved roads, the normally sleepy mountain hamlet of Siwang is shaken by hectic activity. Porters load belongings into their doka - Nepalese wicker baskets traditionally carried on the forehead - and entire families prepare for the harvest season. "I go with my brother, wife and children - the children are more likely to find yarsagumba because they have better sight and nimble fingers to search for it," says villager Ganesh Pun, 38. "Only little children and old people who can’t see or move very well remain in the village." Like Pun, half of the residents of the hamlet will climb to 4,000 meters in the search for yarsagumba, which is native to the meadows of Nepal, India, Bhutan and the Tibetan plateau at up to 5,000 metres above sea level. For more than 500 years, this exotic specimen has been coveted in the Asiatic market due to its aphrodisiac and medicinal properties. "Ophiocordyceps sinensis [its scientific name] is an important nourishing tonic," explains Jit Narajan Sah, assistant professor at the Institute of Forestry of Tribhuvan University.
