Yar tsa Gumba (<i>Cordyceps sinensis</i>): A call for its sustainable exploitation

Negi, Chandra Singh; Koranga, Prithvi Raj; Ghinga, Hira Singh

doi:10.1080/13504500609469669

Cited by 41 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Harvest impacts on P. polyphylla are discussed elsewhere in this special issue and wild populations are in decline (Cunningham et al, in press). O. sinensis populations also commonly considered to be declining due to overexploitation (Negi et al, 2006) combined with habitat loss (Liang et al, 2008). Winkler (2008), on the other hand suggests that O. sinensis is only moderately vulnerable to overharvest.…”

Section: Different Harvester Behaviour and Varying Impacts Due To Wilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking resource supplies and price drivers: Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) price volatility and change, 2002–2017

Cunningham

Long²

2019

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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Ethnopharmacological relevance: Worldwide, one of the drivers of substitution and adulteration is the cost of the natural resources (plants, animals, fungi) that are ingredients of traditional medicines. Relatively few studies have been done that link prices of traditional medicine ingredients to what drives changes in price, yet this is an important topic. Theoretically, prices have been widely considered as an economic indicator of resource scarcity. Rare, slow growing medicinal plants sell for high prices and common, less popular species for low prices. Price levels also influence the viability of farming vs. wild harvest (and incentives to overharvest high value species when tenure is weak). Prices can also influence the harvesting or buying behaviour of harvesters, traders or manufacturers. When prices are high, then there is a greater incentive to use cheaper substitute species or adulterants. As previous studies on herbal medicine ingredients have shown, adulteration applies in a wide variety of cases, including to some Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) species. Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of which factors influenced changes in the market prices of document prices for four popular, but very different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) species (2002 -2017). Materials and methods: Fluctuations in market prices were followed over a 15-year period (2002-2017) for four very different TCM ingredients: two plant species (one wild harvested for fruits (Schisandra sphenanthera Rehder & E.H. Wilson) the other in a transition from wild harvest to cultivation (Paris polyphylla Smith), an animal species (the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko L.)) and the entomophagous "caterpillar fungus" (Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk). G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora).Results: High prices of medicinal plants are widely considered to reflect resource scarcity. Real-time market prices for three of the four very different TCM species we studied all showed major price fluctuations. The exception was P. polyphylla, whose wild populations are widely known to be increasingly scarce, where there was a steady increase in price, with few fluctuations in the upward price trend. The three other species showed significant price fluctuations. These were driven by multiple factors. Ecological and biogeographic factors that influence abundance or scarcity of supply certainly played a role. But other factors were also influential. These included both national and global economic factors (the influence of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)), national policy changes that in turn influenced businessmen giving expensive gifts (that included O. sinensis)), climate change (influencing fruiting success of S. sphenanthera), price speculation by traders and lack of information (e.g: reduction in G. gecko prices due to traders incorrectly believing that domestication would increase supplies). Conclusions: Price fluctuations in the four TCM species we examined are influenced by many factors and not just resou...

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Section: Different Harvester Behaviour and Varying Impacts Due To Wilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking resource supplies and price drivers: Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) price volatility and change, 2002–2017

Cunningham

Long²

2019

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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“…It is actually a parasitic fungus that attacks hepialid caterpillars in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Habitat management includes leaving some unharvested areas each season (Negi et al, 2006), educating collectors about the life cycle of the insect and fungus (Winkler, 2013), reducing the length of the collecting season (Winkler, 2013), and long-term monitoring programmes to assess changes in population sizes (Cannon et al 2009). It is an important livelihood in Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Tibet, and over-harvesting has reduced supply (Shrestha and Bawa, 2013).…”

Section: Wild Harvestingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insects as food and feed in the Asia Pacific region: current perspectives and future directions

Yen

2015

JIFF

143

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Western cultures currently struggle to have insects accepted as a human food. This barrier is not as high in many parts of the Asia Pacific region because entomophagy is (or was until recent times) a part of their accepted diets. The region is comprised of many different cultural groups and the degree to which they embraced entomophagy has been determined by dietary needs, cultural considerations, and the availability of insects. While entomophagy has decreased in westernised societies, the demand for edible insects has increased in parts of Asia in association with rising standards of living. An assessment of the use of insects as food and feed in the Asia Pacific region is provided and important knowledge gaps are identified. Edible insects are sourced by three main strategies: wild harvesting, semi-domestication of insects in the wild, and farming. Semi-domestication and farming have the potential to provide a more sustainable food supply, but globally 92% of species are wild harvested. The harvested insects come from all trophic levels, although most of the terrestrial edible insect species are herbivores and most species of edible aquatic species are predators. The increased demand for edible insects puts pressure on the source populations because new technologies are now used to harvest insects more efficiently and to store them safely for longer periods, facilitating the harvesting of greater amounts of insects. This, in combination with either loss of natural habitats or changes to the environment, puts even more pressure on insect populations. The over harvesting of edible insects from different trophic levels could have long term adverse implications for ecosystem processes in Asia Pacific and other regions.

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“…Within the broad landscape of district Pithoragarh, Kumaun Himalaya, the most heavily exploited sites are the following: Chiplakot and adjoining Sumdum; Philam, Bon, Baling, Dugtu and Daantu in Darma Valley; Marjhali and Ralam Dhura in Ralam river watershed; Panchachuli (Balati glacier) in the River Mandakini watershed; Nagnidhura and the adjacent Jhanthari meadows lying above Gauri paar watershed; and finally Chhiyalekh and adjoining range in Vyas valley (Negi et al, 2006(Negi et al, , 2014(Negi et al, , 2015.…”

Section: Habitat Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Conserving the caterpillar fungus [Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung et al.]: A case study of habitat ecology and sustainability in district Pithoragarh, Western Himalaya, India

Negi¹,

Pant²,

Joshi³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

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The caterpillar fungus, Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung et al.), offers one prime example of the phenomenon, where a resource of immense economic value runs the risk of being over-exploited, more so when its exploitation remains a 'common property resource'. The everincreasing demand of the commodity in the international markets and concomitantly its ever-increasing price, hovering at present at US$ 20,000 per kilogram locally, has resulted in not just its rampant exploitation but also the degradation of the very habitat, thus endangering its sustainability. The present study conducted across 9 broad study sites, across 110 villages and 2511 harvesters, within the Pithoragarh district, Central Himalaya delves into the following broad objectives; (i) quantity of the harvested lot from the region; (ii) effect of over-harvesting vis-a-vis the degradation of the prime habitat on the quantity harvested each year, as also (iii) its effect on the population size of the host larva (Thitarodes), and lastly, (iv) comparative study of the income generated out of the sale of Yartsa Gunbu, with the traditional sources of income. Field visits were made to each of the village; information was gathered through open-ended questionnaire. Host population size study was conducted in three selective sites through hand-sorting method. While over-all quantity of the harvested lot has shown an increase; habitat-wise the quality harvested has shown a perceptible decline in three broad study sites, a trend likely to be replicated by rest of the sites, which currently though is experiencing an increased yield.

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Yar tsa Gumba (Cordyceps sinensis): A call for its sustainable exploitation

Cited by 41 publications

References 18 publications

Linking resource supplies and price drivers: Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) price volatility and change, 2002–2017

Linking resource supplies and price drivers: Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) price volatility and change, 2002–2017

Insects as food and feed in the Asia Pacific region: current perspectives and future directions

Conserving the caterpillar fungus [Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung et al.]: A case study of habitat ecology and sustainability in district Pithoragarh, Western Himalaya, India

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