Ura Gewog in Bumthang is a mushroom hub. Among the many varieties of mushrooms available in the Dzongkhag, Matsutake is considered the most valuable due to its international demand. Unfortunately, the Matsutake yield in Ura declined drastically, this year.
Even the demand in the international market has been falling over the years. But the good news is that the annual Matsutake festival in Ura Gewog has brought good business to farmers.
“Mushroom collection has helped people of Ura immensely in earning a cash income,” said Karma Wangdi, a resident of the Gewog.
“People here charge about Nu. 300 for a kilogram of Matsutake mushroom. Most people collect two to three kilogrammes of mushrooms in a day, but some expert collectors manage almost 12 kilogrammes,” he added.
The annual mushroom festival in Ura gewog has provided an easy market for mushroom collectors, and has also benefited the Gewog in other ways, according to the Gup, Dorji Wangchuk.
“In 2012, we made Nu. 2. 7 million from mushrooms from the five Chiwogs in Ura. We also see an increase in tourists during the festival.”
The success of mushroom collection is threatened, however, by the declining yield of mushrooms in the area. Some of the collectors said there had been a huge drop since last year.
“This year the yield has declined drastically. Last year, if we collected ten kilogrammes of mushroom under a tree, this year, we managed only two to three kilogrammes under the same tree,” said Tashi Dorji, a mushroom collector.
To address the problem of declining yield and other mushroom-related issues, ‘the mushroom management plan’ was implemented this year. The Programme Director of the National Mushroom Centre, Dawa Penjor, says the plan aims to encourage sustainable harvesting of mushrooms.
“After some initial years of trying, we have finally managed to implement the mushroom management plan in Ura Gewog. We hope we will be able to help the people of Ura protect and sustain their resources”.
There are plans to hand over the annual mushroom festival to the Ura mushroom conservation and tourism association in the near future as well. The two day festival ended on Sunday.
