Latest News | Unseasonal Snowfall Hits Economy of Keera Jadi Harvesters

Pithoragarh, Apr 28 (PTI) Unseasonal snowfall in Uttarakhand this year has hit the economy of people in around 30 villages of the Johar and Darma valleys.

These people make a living by collecting Keeda Jadi (caterpillar fungus) or yarsa gumba in high-altitude meadows and selling the herb for lakhs of rupees to Nepalese middlemen.

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The meadows are still covered under the snow and it has become impossible for over 3,000 residents of these villages to climb the heights and camp there as they used to do in March every year to collect Keeda Jadi, which is sold to Nepalese middlemen who route it to Tibet where the herb is in demand for its medicinal properties.

"By mid-March the snow deposited on the meadows located at 9,000 to 14,000 feet melts and villagers of the area go to them for harvesting Keeda Jadi but this year snowfall has continued till almost the end of April making it impossible," said Tej Singh, the Sarpanch of Golpha village of Munsiyari, who is waiting for the snow to melt.

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"The last 26 days of this month alone have seen nine snowfalls. The meadows are under 2 to 5 feet of snow, which is unlikely to melt soon," he added.

Over 3,000 villagers of 30 villages earn their livelihood by collecting the herb every year for the past 30 years.

"The villagers live in sub-zero temperatures in tents in the meadows for 90 days and collect almost 90 to 150 kg of keera Jari that sells for Rs 15 to 20 lakh per kg in the international market," said Puran Pandey, a hotelier in Munsiyari town.

"If the weather continues to be hostile, villagers will face big losses as the herb decays with the onset of monsoon. 42 days of the harvesting season have already been lost," said Tej Singh.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)