Second National Seminar and Fair †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Second National Seminar and Fair. Answer: Introduction The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal is a small landlocked country wedged between the two countries, India and China. Nepal is claimed to be a magical land. The beauty of the Himalayas is of mythical quality and adds a surreal and heavenly feel about this country. Nepal is a land of different climates. The variance in climate from tropical to arctic provides an ecological niche which is suitable for different varieties of plant and animal species. The biodiversity of this land has lead to the evolution of many unique life forms. The government of Nepal has not been able to do much for the highland communities of the country. These communities, mainly comprising ethnic Tibetans have never drawn direct benefits from the development projects of the state. For the past few decades, they have however found a means of making huge economic gains. These economic rewards could be made possible due to a single lucrative resource known as yarsagumba (Childs, 2014). Yarsagumba is an endemic herb of the Himalayan valleys (Winkler 2008a). The Latin name of this insect parasite is cordyceps sinesis which in the Tibetan language literally means summer plant and winter insect. Now before the beginning of the rainy season, spores of the fungus (cordyceps mushroom) parasitizes the earth-dwelling caterpillars. The fungus then mummifies the bodies of the caterpillars to form an insect parasite, a fungus-caterpillar sort of complex which is used as a unique herb, mainly for medicinal purpose. There are many types of medicinal plants and herbs found in the Nepal region, but the most famous of them is Yarsagumba. This herb has a long history of medicinal use in the Tibetan and Chinese culture. The trade in Yarsagumba has witnessed an unprecedented rise in the last decade or two and today it is regarded as a life saving tonic. It has got several usages, from treating headache, toothache, to strengthening kidneys and lungs; this herb is used not only in clini cal medicine but also as household remedy. But its most publicized use is as an antidote to sexual impotency, so much so that it is commonly called the Himalayan Herbal Viagra. Yarsagumba is an extremely scarce resource. It is available at high altitudes of around 3300-4000 m. It grows in Nepal, mainly in the districts of Dolpa, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Manang, Baglung, Mustang and Rasuwa above the snowlines. Today, Yarsagumba is the most expensive medicinal herb, with an exorbitant price of $22,187 per kg (as of 2014). Around 2500 kg of this insect parasite is collected and traded every year. Half of this annual supply comes from the district of Dolpa in western Nepal. A daily estimate of $35 has been made regarding the maximum possible earning that a villager can make by trading yarsagumba. The truth is this daily amount is higher than the monthly income of many households in Nepal. This is the reason that the villagers in those regions take a lot of risks to climb up the mountains and look for the caterpillar-fungus. The months of May and June serve as the prime time when villagers from the remotest areas make their way to the highlands in the Himalayan region of Nepal in search of this Yellow Living Gold. It was illegal to collect yarsagumba until 2001. But with the growing popularity of this tonic and after constant lobbying by different organizations, the ban was lifted. A royalty rate of US$ 280 per kilogram (2.2lbs) was imposed instead. The price of the rare mushroom was U$ 5/6 per kilogram in 1992. By the year 2002, this price increased to US$ 1435 per kilo. The continuous demand in the international market and the growing international interest in this rare half-caterpillar-half-fungus made its price in 2014 shoot up to US$ 22,187 per kilo. Nepal does not involve in the cultivation of Yarsagumba. The people of Nepal are still unaware of the exact method of cultivating Yarsagumba. China and Korea have done a lot of research on the cultivation of this rare and high valued resource. Given the increasing demand of this highly expensive medicinal herb, many organizations and individuals are working in this area of study. The Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences was successful in isolating the commercial strains of the fungus, Cordyceps for the first time in 1982. This strain was named CS- 4. During the whole of the 1980s this new strain was developed into a mycelium and a lot of clinical trials and human testing was done. All this lead to the start of commercial production of Yarsagumba in China under the name of Jin Shui Bao capsules. A wide range of population was encouraged to use it as a clinical trial in order to establish its chemical composition, therapeutic activity, toxicity and many othe r facts. This herb is a source of livelihood in the rural areas of Nepal and every year close to 69000 collectors assemble in that region (Devkota, 2010). In Nepal, Dolpa district has been a pioneer of C. sinensis collection and trade since a very long time. It has been reported that the collection of Cordyceps sinensis started from 1987 in Dolpa (Gupta, 2017). The local people of this district and also the surrounding districts mainly involve in agricultural activities. But in the May-June season of harvest of Cordyceps sinensis, all the other activities become secondary means of livelihood and the main source of earning for the villagers and the local herders is the collection of this herb. Hardly a quarter of the total population inhabits the villages during this season. Threats and Management strategies An increasing concern has been the number of threats, mostly of anthropogenic nature that surround the biodiversity of this ecological niche region of Nepal. As stated, these threats are mostly a direct or indirect result of human activities. Excessive grazing of animals, overuse of fuel woods, unrestricted collection of herbs and other medicinal plants and other such activities all lead to habitat alterations. The medicinal plants of this region are a major source of livelihood for the rural areas of Nepal, and the Government should give topmost priority to the maintenance of these pastures. All possible steps should be taken to maintain the ecological balance of these regions and a healthy environment should be maintained which is conducive for the sustainable development of all the flora and fauna of these regions. The harvesting strategies should also be sustainable. Haphazard and unrestricted collection should never be allowed. Illegal hunting practices have become very common i n these pastoral zones. Such practices can cause an unbalance in the ecosystems and can prove to be major threats to faunal biodiversity. Of late, the importance and the need to protect the indigenous knowledge and local techniques is coming to the international forefront. A deep understanding of the natural distribution, the population structure is of grave importance and is highly crucial (Devkota, 2006). References Winkler, D. (2008). Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibets Rural Economy.Economic Botany, 62(3), pp.291-305. Winkler, D. (2005). Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc: Economy, Ecology, and Ethno-Mycology of Yartsa Gunbu, a Medicinal Fungus Endemic for the Tibetan Plateau.International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, pp.481-482. Childs G., and Choedup, N. (2014). Indigenous Management Strategies and Socioeconomic Impacts of Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Harvesting in Nubri and Tsum, Nepal. Himalaya, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 43(1), Article 7, pp. 8-20. Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol34/iss1/7 [Last accessed 05 May 2017]. Shrestha, B. (2012). Diversity of Cordyceps Fungi in Nepal.Nepal Journal of Science and Technology, 12(0). Devkota, S. (2007). Yarsagumba [Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc.]; Traditional Utilization in Dolpa District, Western Nepal.Our Nature, 4(1). Adhikari, M., Devkota, S. and Tiwari, R. (2006). Ethnomycolgical Knowledge on Uses of Wild Mushrooms in Western and Central Nepal.Our Nature, 3(1). Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262601891_ Ophiocordyceps_sinensis_Yarsagumba_from_Nepal_Himalaya_Status_Threats_and_Management_Strategies [Accessed 5 May 2017]. Adhikari, M.K. (2000). Mushrooms of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: P.U. Printers, pp. 8-320. Adhikari, M.K. (2008a). Cordyceps in Nepal. In: Proceeding of Second National Seminar and Fair on Herbs. Organized by Herbs Products and Spices Trade Association, Nepalgunj. pp.39-50 Chen, S.J., Yin, D.H., Li, L., Zha, Xi., Shuen, J. H. and Zhama, C. (2000). Resources and distribution of Cordyceps sinensis in Naqu Tibet. Zhong Yao Cai 23(11), pp. 673-5.