The Cordyceps auction of the year began in Bumthang yesterday. The three-day auction in Bumthang saw bidders and hundreds of Cordyceps collectors at Chhoekhor Gewog Centre. The highest price so far is Nu. 685,000 for a kilogram of Cordyceps which is actually half the 2012 price.
Cordyceps is one of the important revenue earners for the people of Bumthang. People of three gewogs out of four collect Cordyceps.
But the story was different this time. People of Tang Gewog did not participate in the Cordyceps collection, as there were drastic decline of Cordyceps in the area. Due to the poor yield the quality was also not up to the mark.
The auction starts at 10 in the morning and goes on until 6 pm. Over 40 bidders are taking part in the auction this year. The Cordyceps is categorised as A, B and C category. The price is decided per kilogram of Cordyceps which will be again divided between the amount of Cordyceps one brings.
Over 900 people registered for the Cordyceps collection this year.
From this year, the Department of Agriculture and Marketing Cooperatives has handed over the auction to the gewog centre. The reason for decentralization is for the benefit of the gewog and the people. Since the gewogs officials are close to the people and they can come up with various strategies for the development of Cordyceps collection in the country.
