Gucchi : The Gold Mushroom

Hemani Kandhari

June 29, 2023

Gucchi [ Morel Mushroom ] are one of the most expensive edible fungi. Gucchi are the rarer and primarily found in the regions of Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. the Gucchi comes under the Morchellaceae family and the botanical name for the species is morchella esculenta. Morchella mushrooms grow naturally post february in moist soil and aren't yet cultivated artificially in India. It is usually picked by local people, between the month of March and May , to support their income. It is known for its unique spongy head. Gucchi is usually found in Deodar jungles and in old orchards and its production is associated with the amount of snowfall in winters and moisture content in spring.

Climate Change, destruction and habitat destruction have resulted in the reduced growth of this edible fungi. The rising temperatures leading to less moisture in the soil, the natural growing conditions of Gucchi are reducing, leading to a decrease in the availability of the mushrooms. With the hike in temperature, year after year, there remains no humidity in the soil where s Morel Mushroom need humidity in soil to grow naturally. These are not like any other mushrooms which grown in artificial climates. morel have been a victim of climate change, along with some human activities which reduce their yield.

For the cultivater , however, the profession is becoming tougher each day.. It is not only because the high rates, edible fungus on grow naturally,, making it hard to earn but also because the availability has reduced. For the past three to four years the availability of the gucchi has drastically decreased. earlier it used to be collected 200-300 grams per day. But now it is limited to maximum of 100 grams. That too, if one spends an entire day of hunting.

People from the villages of Himachal Pradesh , Jammu kashmir and Uttarakhand, who go for Gucchi hunt, pluck the entire range of morel they find in one specific habitat, leaving behind no fungi to complete the life cycle for the next season. That also emerges as a problem for the next season, resulting in less availability by default. For the mushroom to grow again their need to be atleast one of them left behind else where woud the next yield come from? The cultivators usually uproot the whole plant but this should be avoided. It should be cut from the stem. The Gucchi hunt is all about the concentration and luck sometimes it took days to find a single gucchi due to its muddy colour it is not easily seen, even if it is just infront of your eyes on a rock or among grass. The hunter have to search hard to find some, and then dry it and sell it in the markets. Sometimes it took the whole day and energy and due to its rarity it is expensive. After the locals collects considerable number of gucchi mushrooms, they put it together in a string, making it look like a mini, mushroom garland. It is then hung to be dried in sunlight for few days to remove the moisture and make it long lasting.

Mostly the locals hunt gucchi for selling purpose only they could able to collect a considerable weight otherwise they use it for self-consumption. They make it as Gucchi curry (a gravy dish) and also use it in pulao (gucchi pulao- a rice dish). You can find them in few restaurants in Shimla, that too very rarely and at an expensive rate.

Due to the less availability of Gucchi Mushrooms te locals started growing it through artificial methods to sustain their only source of income. There are a number of artificial methods to grow these Morel Mushroom, the fungi is the locally cultivated in some regions as the part of their culture. The Gucchi is sold by the cultivators as like , 10,000 per kg and after packaging in the market it is sold for 30,000/kg.

Student of second semester

Journalism and Media Studies

Jammu University