“Fungi as a sustainable source of income-The case of Yartsa goenbub and Sangay shamu in Tibet,” was the subject of the presentation organised by the Council of RNR Research for Bhutan (CoRRB). The presenter, Mr. Daniel Winkler (seen above extreme left), is a freelance researcher and an expert in fungi, particularly in Cordyceps and mushrooms.” The presentation took place today on 17^th September 2004 at the CoRRB conference hall.

The seminar, chaired by the Hon’ble Agriculture Secretary, Dasho Sherub Gyaltshen (top middle), was attended by various MoA officials along with a representative from the World Wildlife Fund.

During the presentation, Dr. Daniel Winkler shared his knowledge and findings in the subject area based on his work experiences from the Tibetan wilderness that started his research in 1998. He said that the first known record for Yartsa goenbub (summer plant winter worm) in Tibet comes from the Tibetan Doctor Zurkhar Nyamni Dorje. He stated that most of the inhabitants depend on Yartsa goenbub (Cordyceps sinensis) for cash income contributing to around 60% of local income.

“Although there are no traditional or scientific knowledge regarding the sustainable collection techniques on Yartsa goenbub, the collection pressure is increasing dramatically with increasing value and local income dependency,” he said.

Later, the floor discussed some of the issues like grazing pressure, other species of Cordyceps, garbage issues and its post harvesting method. 

The Hon’ble Secretary thanked Dr. Daniel Winkler for an informative presentation and hoped to work with him in future.

The floor holding discussions

Meantime, CoRRB is planning to organise such seminars more frequently in order to share scientific knowledge and encourage discussions among various researchers, extension workers, policy makers, lecturers and others in the RNR field.

Reported by Tshering Doma, ICS

Photographs by Tandin Norbu, ICS