Mahfooz Ahmad Bakshi
Morchella Esculenta or commonly known as Morel mushroom is the highly prized edible mushroom. In my language, it’s called “Kangitchh” or “Gitchh”and in Urdu its called “Guchhi” Morel Mushrooms are said to be really costly and are often used in culinary dishes, however, aside from culinary uses, morel mushrooms are also used for medicinal purposes. They have been used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments, including high blood pressure, headaches, and fatigue. In addition, there are many uses of morels, industrial use, it has nutritional value and so on but according to some sources, there is limited scientific evidence to support these uses. In a nutshell, we can say that morels are precious and versatile mushrooms. I don’t know all the places where morels grow, but little did I know that they are mostly found in areas with moist soil and a temperate climate. Morels tend to grow in spring. According to Wiki, Morchella esculenta is commonly found in Europe, Asia, and North America. And because Kashmir is in the Asian continent, so morels grow here as well. Anyway, I have been finding or let me say haunting Morchella Esculenta since childhood. Back in early and late childhood, I would go to the orchards to find these valuable mushrooms. At that time I wasn’t aware about its uses, its value. I mean I was just trying my best to find as many morels as I could only for a hundred rupee note. I have been hearing from my Friends that they sold their findings and got 500 rupees, a thousand or even two thousand, but to be honest, I never got well over two hundred rupees. I used to find them from dawn until dusk, then I would sell them for the money. That money was honestly the best kind of pocket money back in early childhood.
Today (5 April 2023) I went to find morels again with my brother in a nearby apple orchard. I couldn’t find any but luckily, my brother found some.
I don’t know if morels are really valuable to everyone, but for the children, morels are more precious than gems.
The question that arises is what makes Morchella Esculenta expensive? Well, it’s beyond doubt that its taste is unique and scrumptious. Some people cook morels with pure milk, as they believe that it adds up to its taste. Its flavor makes it expensive, but taste is not the only asset. Too much availability makes one cheap and morels are neither available that much nor are they cheap, in simple words, morels are only available for a short period each year, typically in the spring, and they can be difficult to find in the wild. This limited availability drives up the price.
More than that, there is a greater demand for morels, and the high demand drives up the price. Most importantly, it requires intensive harvesting. I mean the laborers have to toil to collect the morels without damaging them in a short period of time.
Morels are different from all the other mushrooms that are available there in the forests as well, and they have their benefits anyway, I do not possess a lot of knowledge about mushrooms. The study stated that” Morels have the expectorant properties, which means they may help loosen and expel phlegm from the respiratory tract. They are also thought to have anti-inflammatory properties, which may help reduce inflammation in the respiratory system”. Researchers are investigating the use of a polysaccharide found in morels called beta-D-glucan as a potential immunomodulatory agent.
Morchella esculenta also helps in boosting the immune system of the body, which makes our body capable of eliminating diseases.
In Asia, these mushrooms are mostly found in China, India, and Iran, and they can lift the economies of these countries if given a little emphasis, however, their rarity makes it hard for the government to extract or cultivate I should say.
Right now, children are being used for searching for morels and some buyers underestimate kids and do not pay them as much as they should. I’m not going to mention prices here because prices keep on changing everywhere, but the buyers at least must appreciate the toil of those children who link the finding of morels to pleasure and keenly search for them forgetting their meals. (Please remember this isn’t related to child labour at all)
In conclusion, I want to request the parents that, please watch after your kids during the period of morels as they go into the dense orchards, grasslands etc. to collect mushrooms and can become the victims of stray as well as wild animals. Please protect your children from abductors as well.
Mahfooz Ahmad Bakshi is the youngest Columnist of district Ganderbal and he can be mailed at Bakshimahfooz@gmail.com
