Then Genekha villagers earned as much as a Nu. 1,200 for a kilogramme of Matsutake picked with great difficulty from the forest floor of the pristine blue pine forests.

Not anymore.

This season Genekha villagers are earning an average of Nu. 380 a kilogramme for Grade A mushrooms which are good for export. Grade B sells for Nu 100 a kilogramme and is consumed locally. It represents a trend of falling prices that started about five years ago.

Apart from a mismatch between the time of demand and supply for the mushroom Bhutanese Matsutake also suffer from both quality and the quantity says Passang Dorji of Tashi Export House, which has been exporting Matsutake to Japan since the 80s.

“By mid-July the harvest was in full swing while there was no demand in Japanese market then,” said Passang Dorji. “Now there is a huge demand but there are no mushrooms. Today we collected about 32 kilogrammes and about one metric tonne in all.” He said normally by now they would have collected over two and a half tonnes as demand peaks around September and October.

Mushroom exporters say that one reason for dwindling prices for Bhutanese Matsutake overseas is because Matsutake from China and South Korea have flooded the Japanese market.

They have other very strong advantages as well. Matsutake from South Korea and China reach Japan on the same day, which means it is much more fresh that Bhutanese exports which take at least 48 hours to reach Japan. The freshness of Matsutake is a big deal for Japanese consumers.

South Korea and Chinese exports are also much larger in quantity and which translates into cheaper transportation costs and retail prices.

Another reason for the dwindling price is deterioration of the quality said the director of the National Mushroom Centre in Semtokha, Dawa Penjore. This, he said, is because of improper harvesting techniques.

The recommended mode is to harvest Matsutake that are above 7.5 cm in length which should be carried in rigid but properly ventilated baskets. Some of the pickers use plastic bags to carry the mushroom, which is sometime done to retain its shape. This spoils the mushroom because of the loss of aeration. “The mushroom needs to respire or else it degrades quickly,” says Dawa Penjore.

“Our Matsutake is no way inferior in quality because of our pristine environment but the problem lies in the method of harvesting,” said Dawa Penjore. “The main flaw is in the handling.”

At the start of every season NMC officials conduct training among pickers on the proper methods of harvesting.

Dawa Penjore said that the case of putting nails and sticks to maintain the shape of the Matsutake was not only confined to Bhutan. It has happened in other countries too. There were also cases where the mushrooms were sewn by thread.

This year the collection season as fixed by the centre started from August 28 and will continue till the end of this month. Collection timing is fixed to so that some Matsutake mushrooms have enough time to open up their caps and release spores for future regeneration.

Matsutake also grows in Ura, Dotey in Paro, Haa and even in Laya and Lunana but some of these places were are too far from Paro international airport to be commercially viable for the international market.

Only Genekha and Dotey with an easy access to the airport at Paro were viable for Matsutake export said NMC officials.

The NMC in collaboration with the Bumthang dzongkhag agriculture sector is conducting a trial marketing of canned Matsutake. “The canned matsutake mushroom could have good demand during the off season,” said NMC officials. About a few hundred cans of Matsutake have been processed at the Bhutan Agro Industries Limited.