Forest team seizes huge quantity of Guchhi herb in Udhampur

Jammu: The forest team on Sunday seized a huge quantity of Guchhi herb in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.
An official said that acting on specific information, a forest department team with the assistance of police seized a huge quantity of MFP Guchhi (Morchella esculenta) from a vehicle.
Guchchi mushrooms are wild mushrooms that are not easily cultivated and grow in specific ecological conditions, such as certain types of soil, moisture levels, and temperature ranges.
The scarcity of Guchchi mushrooms contributes to their high price.
During the preliminary inspection, he added that it was discovered that one person namely Ramjeet of Thana Desa is transporting 307.00 Kgs. of MFP Guchhi from District Doda without any valid documents, which was later on seized along with the vehicle by the department.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of Divisional Forest Officer Udhampur, Rushal Garg and the team was led by Range Officer Udhampur, Mahesh Abrol.
As per the Department, the Jammu and Kashmir’s Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Policy 2022 is a reform towards the sustainable collection and utilization of NTFPs.
“This policy democratises and decentralises the process of sustainable collection. It also emphasises on fair price discovery and fair price realization to the local collectors. The traders have been urged to register their NTFP depots under this new NTFP policy to avoid legal action,” he added.
UNI