In Picture:Â Tents installed by the yarsa pickers are seen in Manang district in July, 2016.
Manang, July 3, 2016:Â Even in the season for yarsagumba collection, most of the yarsa pickers have returned empty-handed owing to the lack of the precious fungi in the Manang district.
Yarsagumba, the caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis), is a prized herb as it fetches big money and people, especially the poor in rural areas, venture out into alpine meadows to dig it out.
A group of 25 Dhading locals had reached Bhraka of Manang to collect the yarsa, but failed to obtain any.
After the region did not witness any snowfall last winter, the production of the medicinal herb decreased, locals stated.
Kai Bahadur Tamang and his wife from Dhading also had a hard time covering their expenses, pay their debts and even manage hand-to-mouth existence.
Last year, the collected herbs were sold at Rs 200 to Rs 750 as per their size.
Every year, people from Manang and other districts like Gorakha, Dhading, Lamjung, Nuwakot among others, come to collect the precious herbs in Manang.
Meanwhile, the time permitted to collect yarsagumba in Nar and Phu VDCs of has been extended though the lucrative activity has already been halted in other places.
Following the murder of seven yarsa collectors in the district six years ago, the permission to collect yarsa in the two villages was banned for outsiders.
By Ramji Rana
