Chencho Dema

Punakha—The recent cordyceps auction at Chhoekor Gewog Centre saw a kilogramme of high-quality cordyceps fetch Nu 3.341 million.

Held from July 15 to July 18, the lowest bid at this year’s auction was Nu 565,000 per kilogramme.

Last year, the highest bid reached Nu 4.3 million, while the lowest was Nu 680,000. The auction saw 31 bidders last year.

The total cordyceps collection in Bumthang increased to 70.57 kilogrammes this year, up from 49 kilogrammes last year. In 2022, 88.2 kilogrammes were collected.

Of the 70.57 kilogrammes of cordyceps collected, 39.68 kilogrammes were sold during the auction while seller withdrew 30.89 kilogrammes, hoping for better prices at other auction venues.

The auction was organised for the two gewogs of Chhoekor and Chumey. Although 42 bidders had registered, only 21 of them turned up to participate at the auction.

The senior marketing officer of the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives (DAMC), Ram Bdr Lama, said that the average price for cordyceps was better this year, although prices were higher last year. “Some sellers withdrew from the auction with hopes of earning more money.”

Buyers have been moving between different auction venues in search of better prices. This year, 510 permits were issued for cordyceps collection in Chhoekor and 778 in Chumey, compared to 601 permits issued last year.

Despite the higher number of permits in Chumey gewog, there were fewer sellers from the area. “This is a common trend. Perhaps, permit holders did not harvest or they chose to sell their cordyceps at other auction sites,” Ram Bdr Lama said.

The forest department collected Nu 600,000 in royalties this year, up from Nu 412,574 last year but down from Nu 741,694 in 2022.

Cordyceps auctions were suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic while the first lockdown disrupted the 2020 auction. However, DAMC managed to hold an auction for Wangdue dzongkhag collectors in 2020. In 2021, DAMC organised an auction for Bumthang collectors at their request.

The next auction is will be held in Dangchu and Sephu gewogs, followed by Kazhi gewog in Wangdue, Khatoed and Tashithang in Gasa, Tshento in Paro, Lingzhi and Naro in Thimphu, and Bumdeling in Trashiyangtse.