Keera Jari (Yarsagumba): Kira Jari Price Boom, Claims and Risks
Keera jari (kira jadi, yarsagumba, caterpillar fungus) is a fungus that grows out of a dead ghost moth caterpillar high in the Himalayas, and its price swings like a share on a stock market: in Nepal it roughly halved in 2015, then hit about 2.8 million Nepali rupees per kg in 2023. Here is what it really is, why it costs so much, what the claims are worth, and the lead warning nobody selling it mentions.
Quick facts
- Names: keera jari or kira jadi buti (Hindi/Urdu), yarsagumba (Nepal), caterpillar fungus; science name Ophiocordyceps sinensis.
- Where: alpine meadows at about 3,000 to 5,000 m in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Indian Himalaya.
- Pieces per kg: about 3,000 in Nepal trade reports.
- Status: listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of overharvesting.
- Cheap “keera jari powder”: usually cultivated Cordyceps militaris or something else entirely.
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What is keera jari, actually?
Keera means insect, jari means herb or root. The name describes what you see: half caterpillar, half little brown stick.
Underground, a ghost moth larva (mostly the genus Thitarodes) gets infected by fungal spores. The fungus slowly fills the caterpillar’s body, kills it, and in spring pushes a thin dark stalk up through the soil. Pickers crawl on their knees across cold meadows in May and June looking for that 2 to 5 cm stalk in the grass. Then they dig out the whole thing, caterpillar and all, brush off the soil and dry it.
No one has managed to farm the wild Ophiocordyceps sinensis cheaply at scale. What you see sold as “kira jari farming” or “cordyceps mushroom” is nearly always a different species, Cordyceps militaris, which grows as orange fruiting bodies on grain or rice in jars and trays. It is a relative, not the same thing, and should be priced like it.
What people say, what tradition says, and our honest take
What people say
Videos call it “Himalayan Viagra”, a stamina herb, a lung tonic and a sugar-control miracle. Sellers in Pakistan and India push “keera jari ke fayde” lists that cover almost every organ.
What tradition says
Tibetan and Chinese traditional medicine have used the fungus for centuries as a tonic for tiredness, lungs and kidneys, usually stewed with meat or soaked in alcohol for the elderly and convalescent. Its fame grew enormously in the 1990s, when Chinese athletes’ coaches credited it with record running times.
Our honest take Skip it as medicine
Lab and animal work on cordyceps compounds (such as cordycepin) is real and interesting. Good human evidence for any of the big claims is thin, and reviews of the wild fungus note it lacks solid evidence for safety or effectiveness. For the sexual and stamina claims there is nothing that justifies the price. If you are curious, cultivated Cordyceps militaris from a tested source costs far less and carries less heavy metal risk. If you’re tired all the time, a blood test for anaemia, thyroid and sugar will tell you more than any fungus.
Why is yarsagumba so expensive?
- Each piece is found by eye. Roughly 3,000 pieces make a kilo, and every one is spotted and dug out by a picker crawling at altitude in snow-melt weather.
- It can’t be farmed. All the wild product comes from a few weeks of harvest on high pastures.
- It is getting scarcer. Harvests have fallen in many areas, which is why IUCN lists it as Vulnerable. Climate change and heavy picking are both blamed.
- Size and grade. Big, intact, golden-brown caterpillars with a short stalk sell for far more than broken or thin ones. Broken bits end up in powders.
- Borders and permits. Nepal’s crop mostly goes to Chinese buyers. Export permits and border crossings with China control the price. When the border shut in the pandemic, collectors had few buyers.
- Middlemen. Villagers sell to local traders, who sell on to bigger traders in Kathmandu and across the border. Each step adds a large margin.
Keera jari prices then and now
These are Nepali rupee (NPR) figures from the Kathmandu Post, the clearest dated trail we could check. Indian and Pakistani shop prices are higher because of further trading and are not published in any dated, checkable series we found.
| When | Reported price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | NPR 1.4 to 1.6 million per kg | As recalled in an August 2015 report |
| August 2015 | NPR 800,000 to 900,000 per kg | Late season, poor harvest, delayed export permits |
| Before the pandemic | NPR 1 to 1.2 million per kg; NPR 300 to 500 per piece | As recalled in September 2023 |
| September 2023 | Traders bought at NPR 1.8 million and sold at NPR 2.8 million per kg; NPR 600 to 1,000 per piece | After China reopened the border; low harvest |
The pattern is clear: the price is volatile and the trend over a decade is up. One bad season, a closed border or a change in Chinese demand can move it by half in a year. Treat any figure you see, here or online, as a guide for October 2026, not a quote.
Buying keera jari: what a fair price tells you
- Ask what species it is. Wild Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a whole dried caterpillar with a stalk. Orange sticks, powders and capsules are usually Cordyceps militaris, and should be far cheaper.
- Price per piece. Wild pieces are sold by count and size. A “kilo of keera jari” at a modest price is not the wild fungus.
- Look at the body. Real ones show the caterpillar’s segments and tiny legs along the underside, with one dark stalk from the head end. Moulded fakes look too smooth and uniform.
- Weigh suspicion. Because it sells by weight, anything heavy hidden inside a piece is pure profit for a cheat. Snap one: a real piece breaks to show a pale, yellowish-white inside.
- Insist on a heavy metal test. For any powder or capsule, ask for a recent lab report covering lead and arsenic. No report, no purchase.
- Legal trade only. In Nepal collection and export need permits, and India regulates collection in some states. Buy only sealed, labelled product from a licensed seller and check DRAP enlistment in Pakistan.
How is it used, and how much?
Traditionally a few whole pieces are cooked into a chicken or duck soup, or soaked in liquor, which many readers will avoid. Cultivated Cordyceps militaris is sold dried for soups and tea in East Asia, used like any dried mushroom.
Used as medicine, the pack or a qualified practitioner sets the amount. We give no doses. If you try a cordyceps product anyway, judge it over a few weeks, and stop at the first sign of stomach upset, rash, bruising or dark urine.
Lead poisoning has been traced to cordyceps powder: a Taiwanese report described two people with high blood lead after taking contaminated cordyceps, and the powder held extremely high lead levels. Wild pieces can also carry arsenic from the soil. Skip it in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and never give it to children. Talk to your doctor first if you take blood thinners, diabetes medicine, or medicines that calm the immune system (after a transplant or for an autoimmune disease), or if you have a bleeding disorder or surgery coming up. Belly pain, constipation, tiredness, pale skin or tingling hands after a “herbal tonic” deserve a blood lead test; our guide to heavy metals in herbal medicine explains the signs.
Keera jari questions, answered
What is keera jari in English?
It is called caterpillar fungus or Cordyceps, and its scientific name is Ophiocordyceps sinensis. In Nepal it is yarsagumba, and in Tibet yartsa gunbu, meaning “summer grass, winter worm”.
What is the kira jari price per kg in India and Pakistan?
There is no published daily rate. In Nepal, traders paid about NPR 1.8 million per kg and sold at NPR 2.8 million in September 2023. Prices in India and Pakistan are higher after more trading, and they swing every season.
Kira jari kya hai, insect or plant?
Neither exactly. It is a fungus that has infected and killed a moth caterpillar underground, then sent a stalk up through the soil. What you buy is the dead caterpillar filled with fungus, plus the stalk.
What are the real keera jari benefits?
Tradition uses it as a tonic for tiredness, lungs and kidneys. Lab studies on its compounds are interesting, but good human evidence for stamina, sexual health or sugar control is lacking. It is not worth its price as medicine.
Kira jari price per piece: what is normal?
Nepal reports from 2023 put collectors’ prices at NPR 600 to 1,000 per piece, up from NPR 300 to 500 before the pandemic. Size and condition matter a lot, and shop prices abroad are higher.
Is keera jari powder real?
Often it isn’t the wild fungus. Most powders and capsules use cultivated Cordyceps militaris or broken pieces of uncertain origin. Ask for the species name and a heavy metal lab report before buying.
Can kira jari be farmed?
The wild species can’t be farmed cheaply. “Kira jari farming” courses and seed kits usually mean Cordyceps militaris grown on grain in jars, a different though related fungus.
Is yarsagumba legal to buy?
Trade is legal under permits in Nepal and controlled in parts of India. Buy only sealed, labelled product from licensed sellers, and in Pakistan check that the product is DRAP-enlisted.
Who should not take cordyceps?
Pregnant or breastfeeding women, children, and anyone with a bleeding disorder or surgery soon. People on blood thinners, diabetes medicine or transplant and autoimmune medicines should ask their doctor first.
Why did yarsagumba prices fall in some years?
In 2015 a late season, a smaller harvest and slow export permits cut the price roughly in half. When the China border closed in the pandemic, collectors had few buyers. Prices rose again when trade reopened.
For more on herbal products and how to judge them, visit Unani & Herbal, Decoded or our checklist for buying herbal products online.
Sources
- Kathmandu Post (19 September 2023): Price of yarsagumba surges after China re-opens border
- Kathmandu Post (12 August 2015): Yarsagumba collectors unhappy as prices plunge
- Wu TN et al. Lead poisoning caused by contaminated Cordyceps, a Chinese herbal medicine: two case reports. Sci Total Environ, 1996 (PubMed)
- Ophiocordyceps sinensis: biology, IUCN status and Cordyceps militaris