by Ananda Gautam in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 25, 2023The price of chiraito, a medicinal herb prized by the pharmaceutical industry, has hit an all-time high of Rs1,000 per kg on soaring demand in India. The plant (Swertia chirayita) grows wild in the forests of the Himalayan foothills, and is also cultivated. Tibet used to be the largest buyer of Nepali chiraito; but after Chinese authorities closed the border in eastern Nepal due to Covid-19,…