Hi Peter,

I hope it's just a spelling mistake.

Cheers,

Ed Santos

--- In Bhutan-eForest@yahoogroups.com, Peter Hansen <pkhbhutan@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Phuntsho
> I don't quite understand, why shouldn't the Chief Erection
Commissioner be at the cordycept auction? I thought it was precisely
one of the highly recognizable effects of the cordycept tonic. (if so,
one of my friends is asking how much he should take. Any suggestions?)
> Best regards
> Peter
>
> Phuntsho Namgyel <phuntshonamgyel2001@...> wrote:
There was the seventh or eighth Cordyceps auction this
year
> yesterday 21st July at Dodena at the foothill of the two famous
> monasteries of Tango and Cherry in Thimphu.
>
> My friend Parop Dorji, Chief Horticulture Officer, when he saw me
> said, "What is this person from Election Commission doing here at
> the Cordyceps auction?"
>
> Having been involved in Cordyceps research earlier, I have always
> wanted to witness one Cordyceps auction undertaken since 2004 when
> Cordyceps collection was legalized in the country.
>
> The Cordyceps auction drew quite a crowd. There were over 30-40
> buyers and over 100 to 200 sellers.
>
> The highest bid price for a kilogram was Nu. 4,11,000 (US $ 10,275)
> and the lowest Nu. 2,45,000 ($ 6125). On top of the bid price, the
> buyer also paid Nu. 7000 ($175) as royalty to the Government which
> then the highest price worked out to Nu. 4,18,000 ($ 10,450).
>
> While the Cordyceps collectors appeared excited at such a good price
> for the product, many buyers said that the price was crazy, yet they
> lapped up all the supply there.
>
> I found difficult to make sense of the dynamics of the Cordyceps
> auction yesterday. However, I must wait for Dophu, the marketing
> researcher at the RNR-RC Yusipang who was also conductor of the
> auction yesterday, who said that he is doing a value chain study for
> Cordyceps.
>
> Some of the important findings from talking to different actors
> yesterday were:
>
> • The Park people are genuinely concerned about the sustainable
> harvest of Cordyceps and the environmental consequences such as
> disturbance to wild animals and littering of cigarette stubs as a
> result of large scale picking of Cordyceps.
> • The permit for collection is issued one for each household so that
> there is equity amongst households with many members and few members.
> • Many local people are now seeking new thram (house) number.
> • Many local people are buying yaks, and the increased number of
> yaks is creating pressure on the carrying capacity of the park.
> • There is a need for more research on ecology, sociology and policy.
> • Some exporters say that buying and selling of Cordyceps should be
> left upto the people. The auction leads to escalation of price to
> crazy level which makes exporting of it difficult.
> • The collectors on the other hand are thankful to the Government
> for organizing auctions as the price obtained is generally more
> handsome than the price got across the international border in
> Tibet.
> • Some collectors say that as the price in the auction is higher,
> there must be Cordyceps supply flowing in from across the border.
> • Since Cordyceps is very valuable, there is stealing of Cordyceps
> in the villages, and within the same household.
> • People are thankful to the Government for deploying security
> personnel during the Cordyceps season, and this has greatly stopped
> the poachers from across the border.
>
> I hope this post is informative. I shall also post some pictures
> from yesterday's auction – thanks to the digital camera technology.
>
> Warmest regards
>
> Phuntsho Namgyel
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.
>