{"id":20087358,"date":"2022-04-26T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=87358"},"modified":"2022-07-25T11:52:56","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:22:56","slug":"climate-change-hits-harvest-morel-mushrooms-in-himalayas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/climate-change-hits-harvest-morel-mushrooms-in-himalayas\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change hits harvest of one of world\u2019s priciest mushrooms in Himalayas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sunning herself on her porch in Koti \u2013 a village 28km from the Himachal Pradesh state capital Shimla in the Indian Himalayas \u2013 Sumitra Sen makes a garland of mushrooms. \u201cNot any random mushrooms, but the very precious and rarely found guchhi<\/em>,\u201d she says, using the local name for morel mushrooms. The 43-year-old mother of two has been picking morels since childhood. But this time, in March, six hours of foraging in the forest near her house garnered only enough to make one garland, weighing about 150 grams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are more people and fewer mushrooms in the forest now,\u201d Sen says, as she hangs the garland on a window to dry in the spring sunshine. Sun-dried morel can sell for up to INR 30,000 (USD 392) per kilogram, depending on size and quality. The bigger the mushrooms, the higher the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sumitra<\/div>
Sumitra Sen with the morel mushrooms she collected from the forests near her house in Koti, Himachal Pradesh (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut for the past decade, the availability of these mushrooms has decreased considerably,\u201d Sen sighs. \u201cThis year it feels like we are looking for diamonds in the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morel mushrooms \u2013 of the genus Morchella<\/em> \u2013 grow wild in many countries across Asia, Europe and North America. One of the world\u2019s most expensive edible mushrooms, many species of morel are culinary delicacies, and some are also used in medicine<\/a>, reported to have antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2010 paper<\/a> estimated that global production of morels was about 150 tonnes in dry weight, with India and Pakistan the major producers, each exporting around 50 tonnes per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India, morels are found in the Himalayas, in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. They grow on the bark of old trees and in grasslands in cold wet weather, and are collected in the spring (late March to early April), mostly by local women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Morel harvest shrinking as climate changes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sen recalls how morels were collected with ease, in abundance, until around a decade ago. In the past, she could pick enough to cook some at home before selling the rest. But no longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were able to collect up to eight kilograms of guchhi<\/em> till 2008 or 2010, in one season (February to May) and it was sold for around INR 8,000 [USD 105] per kg. But it is not the case anymore. You can get as high as INR 30,000 per kg now, but you can collect only around half a kilogram in a season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/div>
A morel mushroom growing in the wild near Koti village (Image: Jigyasa Mishra)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Kashmir, too, the quantity of morel collected this year has been lower than any Tabassum Bano can remember. Bano, a homemaker based in Anantnag \u2013 around 60km from Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital \u2013 tells The Third Pole: \u201cGuchhis<\/em> mark the arrival of spring to us. It has been a dry spring this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the 2018-19 Digest of Forest Statistics<\/a> from the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department, morel production fell from 2,000 quintals (200 tonnes) in 1991 to 88 quintals (8.8 tonnes) in 2018, and zero in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

93%<\/p>

less rain than average fell between 1 March and 19 April 2022 in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rouf Hamza Boda, a teacher in Anantnag and author of a book on mushroom identification, says that hotter springs may be to blame. \u201cWith the arrival of summer-like situation in March itself, when everybody is facing water crisis in Kashmir, guchhis <\/em>have no chance to grow or sustain anymore,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early heatwaves hit Himalayan spring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This spring, rainfall has been well below average across much of the Himalayan region. Sonam Lotus, former head of the Srinagar station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), tells The Third Pole that rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir this March has been 80% less than average, with Srinagar receiving only 21.3mm of rain, against a normal of 117.6mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In Himachal Pradesh, Sen says there has been no rainfall in Koti this spring, halting the growth of morels. The IMD reports<\/a> that 93% less rain than average fell in Shimla district (where Koti is located) between 1 March and 19 April this year. Total rainfall during this period was 7.6mm, compared to the long-term average of 116mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, says this is part of a longer trend. \u201cMarch 2022 was India’s hottest March in recorded history (1901-2022). The temperatures were high [across] India, especially the northwest regions that underwent a heatwave … The temperatures averaged over India during 1986\u20132015 show significant warming trend of about 0.15 degrees Celsius per decade,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n