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Q45·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2022

Characteristics and cultivation of Gucchi fungus

EnvironmentBiodiversity & ConservationStatement-basedMediumCurrent-affairs-linked

Question

With reference to "Gucchi" sometimes mentioned in the news, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1.

    It is a fungus.

  2. 2.

    It grows in some Himalayan forest areas.

  3. 3.

    It is commercially cultivated in the Himalayan foothills of north-eastern India.

Options

a

1 only

b

3 only

c

1 and 2

Answer
d

2 and 3

Explanation

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The Gucchi (Morchella esculenta) is a highly prized wild mushroom (fungus) that naturally grows in the temperate Himalayan forests of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Statement 3 is incorrect; one of the reasons it is so expensive is that it cannot be easily cultivated commercially; it must be laboriously foraged from the wild.

The extreme value of the Gucchi mushroom is derived precisely from the fact that it resists commercial cultivation and must be wild-harvested.

Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2022

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q45

Subject

Environment

Sub-topic

Biodiversity & Conservation

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Medium

Nature

Current-affairs-linked

Source hint

Himalayan Forest Bio-Resources / Gucchi Morel Mushroom Ecology

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