August 16: At this time of the year the Uraps in Bumthang are busy harvesting wheat and barley. It is also a season to collect mushrooms. But on August 14, hundreds of locals took a break from these activities and gathered at the Ura Middle Secondary School to take part in the first ever Matsutake festival.

The festival is initiated to alleviate poverty and increase rural income. It is also intended to promote product diversification for the tourism industry in Bhutan through indigenous product and local service delivery such as home stays, guided mushroom collection and medicinal hot stone bath.

The three day festival ends today. It was opened by the Agriculture Minister, Lyonpo Dr. Pema Gyamtsho along with the Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission Dasho Nado Rinchen. Speaking to the gathering the Agriculture Minister said the objective of the festival is to promote eco-tourism, cultural tourism and community based tourism at the place. He said through such initiative, there would be increase in tourism related activities and generation of rural income.

Matsutake or Sangay Shamu grows at an altitude of over 3000 meters making Ura in Bumthang one of its home in the kingdom. Uraps need to walk for few hours to the forest to collect Sangay Shamu. It grows in clusters at the base of pine trees. It is collected once in a year. The harvesting season is in the month of July till mid of September.

A kilogram of Matsutake fetches about Nu. 200. The tradition of collecting Sangay Shamu in Ura dates back to late 80’s. According to officials from the Thrumshingla National Park, there has been an increase in number of Matsutake (Sangay Shamu) collectors in Ura with local demand on the rise.

Dorji Wangchuk, the Principal Research Officer with the Renewable Natural Resources Research Center in Jakar says there has been a decrease in the production due to haphazard harvesting ways.

While collectors have been trained on sustainable harvesting methods, untrained collectors from other areas harvest the ones which have been left behind by the trained pickers to grow.

Despite limited staff at the Thrumshingla National Park, vigilance is on the increase to ensure sustainable harvesting.

Matsutake is largely exported to Japan besides Singapore and India. Matsutake has been a typical part of Japanese cuisine for at least 1,000 years.

The festival saw varieties of mushrooms on display in the stalls. There are about 100 species of mushroom identified in Ura of which 50 species are edible. Beside showcasing mushrooms there were also associated delicacies like mushroom cooked by Japanese and Bhutanese chefs.

Later in the afternoon the Minister inaugurated medicinal stone bath facility situated few minutes drive away from the Thrumshingla National Park.

Following that, the Minister also inaugurated a 9 kilometer long Ura-Geyzamchu walking trail dedicated to the monarchs of the country. It takes approximately four and a half hours of walk through two small passes to complete the trail.

At the Matsutake festival, spectators witnessed sacred dances and were entertained with folk music. The festival will be an annual event for Bumthang Dzongkhag.