On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Dr Pankaj Kumar
<sahani...@gmail.com> wrote:
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"TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!"
Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae)
Research Associate
Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project
Department of Habitat Ecology
Wildlife Institute of India
Post Box # 18
Dehradun - 248001, India
According to Daniel Winkler, the price of Cordyceps sinensis has risen dramatically on the Tibetan Plateau, basically 900% between 1998 and 2008, an annual average of over 20%. However, the value of big-sized caterpillar fungus has increased more dramatically than smaller size Cordyceps, regarded as lower quality.[19]
Year | % Price increase | Price/kg (Yuan) |
---|---|---|
1980s | 1,800 | |
1997 | 467% (incl. inflation) | 8,400 |
2004 | 429% (incl. inflation) | 36,000 |
2005 | 10,000–60,000 |
According to Modern Marvels, a show on the History Channel, mushroom hunters in Nepal can earn 900 dollars for an ounce of cordyceps.[1]
The high value of cordyceps was evidently the reason it was one of only two Chinese traditional medicines to be stolen in a brazen theft in British Columbia. The stolen cordyceps has been estimated to have been worth Can $38,000.
Note: 6.4 Chinese Yuan = 1 USD