Schools in Dolpa closed as gold rush for Yarshagumba begins
Dolpa (Tripurakot), May 18, The schools in Dolpa district have been closed
lately with the onset of Yarsha picking season that begins before the monsoon.Yarsha
Gumba with its scientific name Ophiocordyceos sinesis, is a rare medicinal herb
that grows in Nepal in the meadows above 3,500 metres.
Most of the
students in the schools here set out for remote highlands of the district to
pick this caterpillar fungus ever year starting from mid of May to mid of June,
stated Hemaraj Hamal, the Head Master of the local school, Tripura Sundari
Secondary School.
Since trading of
the Yarsha Gumba has been the main source of income to majority of the Dolpa
folks, hundreds of students studying in some 100 primary schools, 15 lower-secondary schools, 11 secondary
schools and two colleges in the district flock to high mountains to pick up
this valuable herb used for different medicinal purposes.
Headmaster Hamal
further said that the students arrange their tuition fees with the money they
make from picking Yarsha.
Samantamani
ACharya, the Assistant District Education officer in Dolpa shared that the
schools here are generally shut down during this season although not in official
manner as the schools are deserted in the absence of students who prefer to
walk to highland meadows in the district to pick Yarsha.
According to him,
mostly children and youngsters over elderly are enthusiastic about the Yarsha
rush due to their better sight and nimble fingers, easing off in picking
Yarsha.
One person could
make up to Rs 100,000 to 150,000 from it, shared a tenth-grader Brikha Bahadur
Kathayat, one of the members of the caravan.
Only two percent
of the land in the Dolpa, the biggest district of the country, is arable. The
harvest would hardly last through the year to eat. Hence, hundreds of locals,
including students like Kathayat, risk their life trailing the highland terrain
of Dolpa in search of the Yarsha.