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What is Yarsagumba? Its Uses, Importance, Per kg Price and Benefits

What is Yarsagumba? Yarsagumba is a unique fungus which grows on caterpillar. It is found in the high altitude areas of the Himalayas.  It is a parasitic relation of a fungus which grows on the larvae stage of many species of moth caterpillar .  Yarsagumba takes the nutrients for its own growth from caterpillar. The caterpillar becomes devoid of  its nutrients and in the process the caterpillar dies. T his is the reason that Yarsagumba is also called half caterpillar half fungus. In scientific terms it is known as  Ophiocordyceps sinensis .  Its unique life-cycle brought it names Yarchagumba, Yatsa gunbu, Yartsa gunba, Yatsagumbu and keeda jadi. In Tibet ‘Yatsa gunbu’  means ‘ Summer grass winter worm ‘.   The caterpillar fungus  is also called Himalayan Viagra. Where is Yarsagumba found? Yarsagumba is found in high altitude Himalayas of India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.  HowYarsagumba or Keeda Jadi Grows? The caterpillar larvae grow in the soil of sub alpine high pa
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Yarsagumba: The Himalayan Viagra

Yarsagumba is an exceptional and incredible herb that grows in the pastures above 3,300 meters upto 4000 meters in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet Yarsagumba is a exceptional combination of a yellow caterpillar and a mushroom (fungus). Just earlier to the rainy season, spores of cordyceps fungus infect these Himalayan caterpillars that live on moist grass and hollow soil. After the fungus buries itself in the caterpillar’s body, it works its way out through the insect’s head. The parasite gets the energy from the caterpillar. The fungus parasite gets so much into the body of the caterpillars’ that it drains all the energy from the insect and ultimately it dies. As temperature increases and the snow melts -yarsagumba emerges and is collected at this time. During monsoon, the yarsa gumba is swept away. Yarsa Gumba is used to cure various ailments like Cancer , Asthma , Chronic Hepatitis B ,Tuberculosis, Leprosy, leukemia & it also used to increases physic
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Seven benefits of Yarsagumba

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Caterpillar fungus, which is known as Himalayan Viagra, is an herb that grows in the pastures between 3,300 meters and 4000 meters in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. Known locally as the yarsagumba, this small herb  is an exceptional combination of a yellow caterpillar and a mushroom (fungus).  As temperature increases and the snow melts, yarsagumba emerges. During the rains, the herb is often swept away. Caterpillar fungus goes under the scientific name of Cordyceps Sinensis. Just prior to the rainy season, spores of cordyceps fungus infect Himalayan caterpillars that live on moist grass and hollow soil. Once buried inside the caterpillar’s body, the fungus works its way out through the insect’s head. The parasite gets the energy from the caterpillar and leaves it to die. The caterpillar fungus is a slim, brownish yellow, 2cm long plant that protrudes stem-like and sticks out of the earth. Depending on the size and quality, the caterpillar fung
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Worm, fungi or enhancement drug? All about the ‘Himalayan Viagra’ and why it’s endangered

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At the beginning of the Himalayan summer, when the snows start to melt, all the schools close for the season and Nepali parents and children move to the grasslands with enough food for a month-long journey on a quest for a herb more valuable than gold. To find  yarsagumba , families crawl through muddy fields hoping to spot a yellowish-green mummified caterpillar that resembles a disproportionate unicorn, with a dark-coloured elongated fungus growing out of a larva’s head. In Chinese, the two-faced creature is called  dong chong xia cao , which translates as “winter worm, summer grass”. During the winter,  yarsagumba  is worm-like, but by the summer, invaded by fungus, it looks more like a plant. Mature  yarsagumba  resembles nothing so much as a matchstick, thin and slender, projecting two to three centimetres above the ground across the alpine meadows of the Himalayas. (A) The stroma and sclerotium sections; (B, C) The complex of mycelial cortices and attached soil particl
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Yarsagumba lifts living standard of rural Nepalis

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A family can easily earn as much as Rs 600,000 during yarsagumba harvesting season from mid-May to mid-July, making the unique Himalayan fungus a major agent of change in living standard of the country’s rural people, a report released today by Nepal Rastra Bank states. Each piece of harvested yarsagumba yields around Rs 800. This way a collector earns an average of Rs 120,000 during the season, states the report. Since entire families in rural areas rush to pick up the fungus during the peak season, each of them stands to earn Rs 600,000 — which is almost eight times Nepal’s per capita income of Rs 76,065. “This is an indication that yarsagumba collection can lift living standard of people,” says the report. Yarsagumba, which has various medicinal values and is also referred to as ‘Himalayan Viagra’, is the most expensive bio-resource available in the world today. Its demand started going up rapidly after 1993 World Athletics Championship, during which Chinese athlete
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Quota system launched in Yarsagumba collection

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The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), in coordination with various stakeholders, has implemented a quota system for collecting Yarsagumba in order to prevent overharvesting of the herb which is used as an aphrodisiac. Yarsagumba, the world’s most expensive medicinal fungus, is in serious decline in Nepal due to overharvesting. The herb can fetch as much as $100 per gram on the Chinese market, making it more expensive than gold, according to reports. As per the new quota provision, only a limited number of people will be allowed to collect Yarsagumba in specified regions. According to reports, high prices and rising demand have set off a fungus gold rush in poverty-stricken rural communities in Nepal, but the impact on biodiversity and ecosystems has received little attention. “If regulations are not introduced, overharvesting of these plants may destroy their habitats,” said Babulal Tiruwa, chief of ACAP Manang. Prospective herb collectors will need to obtain a special
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Yarsagumba: Biological Gold

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In Nepal, caravans of people can be seen climbing higher up the snow-capped Himalayas, carrying blankets, tents and cooking materials. Schools are closed and entire villages are emptied, aside from the elderly and the sick who cannot handle the harsh, steep and long trek thousands of meters above sea level. When the annual yarsagumba harvesting season hits, all available hands and eyes become engaged in the lucrative hunt. Yarsagumba is a unique caterpillar-fungus fusion that occurs when parasitic mushroom spores (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) infect and mummify a ghost moth larva living in the soil. A spindly fungus later sprouts from the dead caterpillar host’s head. Two to six centimeters long, the fungus shoots above the soil, acting as a tiny, finger-shaped flag for harvesters to find. This peculiar hybrid is the world’s most expensive biological resource. Yarsagumba thrives in the picturesque peaks of the Himalayas, at altitudes of between 3000 and 5000 meters, in Nepal, India and
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