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Caterpillar fungus, available in the high altitudes of Uttarakhand now may be used for treating erectile dysfunctions instead of expensive foreign drugs like Viagra and Cialis. The officials of the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) in the Gopeshwar district have revealed that the caterpillar fungus, locally called ‘Keera ghas' or 'Yarchagumba' is said to have aphrodisiac properties, which will be used to manufacture drugs in a project undertaken by the Uttarakhand government.
It was revealed that the drug manufacturing project will be jointly undertaken by HRDI and the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. SK Singh director of HRDI and additional secretary herbs revealed that Yarchagumba has been used in traditional forms of medicine for ages and its application is most common in the Chinese medicine system. On the directive of the government the van (forest) panchayats in the state have been instructed to take care of the caterpillar fungus. Over the years, the price of the unique natural substance has increased tremendously. The forest officials have revealed that the price of a kilogram of the caterpillar fungus is about Rs300,000.
