Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibet’s Rural Economy
@article{Winkler2008YartsaG, title={Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibet’s Rural Economy}, author={D{\'a}niel Winkler}, journal={Economic Botany}, year={2008}, volume={62}, pages={291-305} }
Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibet’s Rural Economy. Cordyceps sinensis is a mushroom that parasitizes larvae of Thitarodes (Hepialus) moths, which inhabit the alpine grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetans have used the mushroom, which they call yartsa gunbu (“summer-grass, winter-worm”) for many centuries, if not millennia. A 350% increase in the price paid to pickers between 1997 and 2004 has turned this tiny mushroom into the single most important…
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Steps towards Sustainable Harvest of Yartsa Gunbu (Caterpillar Fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis)
- Geography
- 2013
Summary Caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is an insect-parasitizing fungus endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It has become the most important source of cash income in wide…
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Distribution, Harvesting, and Trade of Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in the Sikkim Himalaya, India
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Cordyceps has significantly improved the socioeconomic status of the mountain people in the Sikkim Himalaya, India, but an upsurge in demand and its price has resulted in overexploitation and…
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The caterpillar mushroom Ophiocordyceps sinensis (syn. Cordyceps sinensis) is among the most valuable mushrooms in the world, and plays a major role for the local economies in its distribution area…
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Ophiocordyceps sinensis is one of rare fungal species parasitizing the larvae of a moth of the genus Thitarodes (Hepialus), which mainly lives in the Tibetan Plateau of China ( including Tibet,…
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The reproduction of moth larvae of the genus Hepialus is first described, which includes their ecological characteristics and the methods of artificial feeding and the potential application of modern biotechnology to the artificial cultivation is analyzed in prospect.
ON THE CONCEPT OF OPHIOCORDYCEPS SINENSIS AMONG TIBETAN PEOPLE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN TIBETAN MEDICINE
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dByar rtswa dgun ’bu, “summer grass – winter worm”, is diffused over a large part of the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayan mountains. Tibetans have likely known it since ancient times and have seen…
Rapid Vulnerability Assessment of Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis [Berk.] G.H. Sung et al) in Pithoragarh District, Uttarakhand State, India
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Any resource of high value and relevance to rural livelihoods is at risk of overexploitation. The anthropogenic pressure on the caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung, J.M.…
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With the discovery of the incredible diversity of entomogenous fungi in Peru, many new candidate species are now being researched for their medicinal properties and the potential for cultivation, in an effort to commercialization as substitutes for increasingly rare O. sinensis.
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