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Indigenous ecological knowledge and wild harvesting of morel mushrooms: the resource productivity and marketing in Swat, Pakistan

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Abstract

Morels (fruiting bodies of Morchella spp.) are ascomycetous mushrooms known for their prime edibility and medicinal value. Their wild harvesting is potentially one of the off-farm income sources for the mountainous communities in Pakistan. Over the years, the local resource harvesters (RHs) attained a rich indigenous knowledge of morel ecological characteristics, habitation and marketing. The body of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) thus acquired is increasingly becoming threatened in the ongoing forest degradation era which is further aggravated by the loss of morel-specific habitats. Furthermore, there are still many gaps in the ecological understanding regarding forest mycological services. The current study, therefore, focused on various aspects of the morel mushrooms like TEK, bulk collected, pre and post-harvest processing, value addition and marketing. To procure TEK related to morel mushrooms, informed consent and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 commercial resource harvesters and 10 resource dealers. The referral sampling method was applied to identify the informants while for the value chain and productivity assessment regular field-market monitoring was performed during 2014–2018. Data indicated that the total annual production of wild morels during 2014 was 4624 kg which generated a revenue of about USD 0.256 million. Among the total estimated 4000–5000 harvesters, 90% were male and 10% were female who earned up to 25% of total annual income from morel harvest. The study further revealed that a large part of morel marketing remained unknown and quite unpredictable due to a lack of government interest and public policy. The RHs receive a minimal advantage of the supply chain i.e., 25–30% of an export value. Our study proposed a mechanism for sustainable resource management of morel mushrooms based on contemporary ecological knowledge and existing TEK from the local forest users. The main objective of the study was to scientifically document indigenous understandings, level of commercial extraction and marketing of morel fungi from the area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Plant Sciences and Biodiversity, University of Swat, Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Shahid Hussain & Hassan Sher

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  1. Shahid Hussain
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  2. Hassan Sher
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Hussain, S., Sher, H. Indigenous ecological knowledge and wild harvesting of morel mushrooms: the resource productivity and marketing in Swat, Pakistan. Environ Dev Sustain 25, 1773–1791 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02121-z

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