Harvesting: Have you ever wondered how we get food grains supplied neat and cleaned directly to the shop? Yes, farmers are using traditional and modern techniques for Harvesting the crops grown. There are various stages to harvesting a variety of crops when the particular crop attains its maturity. Harvesting the crops at matured levels gives high income, and good quality produces.

If the crops such as pulses, cereals, oilseeds, etc., are left in the field for too long after maturity without harvesting, it can lead to the predisposition of pests. Let us explore more about what is the meaning of harvesting, its stages, and its importance in the below article. Continue reading to know more.

What are Agricultural Practices?

Plants of the same or identical kind which are cultivated on a large scale are called a crop. Agricultural practices are actually a set of rules that must be applied to agricultural fields to get better agricultural products. These are direct farming approaches that are used to facilitate the process of agriculture.

There are many agricultural practices followed while growing crops. Preparation of soil, sowing, adding manures and fertilizers, irrigation, protecting from weeds, harvesting and storage are the few agricultural practices.

Define Harvesting?

Harvesting is the method of collecting a ripe crop from the fields. It is carried out as soon as the plant attains average maturity concerning the useful requirement of seed, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, stems, leaves, stalk or others with minimum losses.

1. Depending on the position of good grains in plants, harvesting is carried out with different strategies. It may involve: cutting, digging, picking, laying, gathering, curing and stacking.
2. The term harvesting also generally includes the immediate post-harvest practices such as threshing and winnowing.
3. Threshing: Threshing is the methodology of loosening the grains from the chaff after the crops are harvested. It can be done by hand or by using a machine to segregate all the grain seeds.
4. Winnowing: Winnowing is the methodology of segregation of grain seeds from the chaff using the help of the wind. Due to the wind, the lighter husks flies away, and the heavier grains fall. 

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Fig: Harvesting

Principles of Harvesting

There are a few principles followed by farmers while harvesting: 

1. Slicing with a Sharp Smooth Edge
2. Tearing with a Rough Serrated Edge
3. Single Element with High-Velocity Impact and Sharp or Dull Edges
4. Two Element Scissor Type or Shearing Type Cutting

Methods of Harvesting

There are three essential methods of cutting the crop or harvesting.

1. Hand Harvesting/Manual Harvesting: Hand harvesting is a method of gathering grains, fruits, vegetables, leaves, etc., by hand or manually.

Fig: Hand Harvesting

2. Harvesting with Hand Tools: Farmers use a few tools to harvest the crops. Small sickle, big sickle, darat, gandasa and a small axe, etc., are a few examples of harvesting with hand tools.

Fig: Hand Tools Used During Harvesting

3. Harvesting with Machinery: Machine harvesting is the act or process of harvesting grains in large quantities by using modern harvesters. A modern harvester can combine with other huge machinery to cut and clean the grains at the same time.

Fig: Harvesting with Machinery

Stages of Harvesting Process

1. Reaping: Cutting down the mature panicles and straw that are grown above the ground is called reaping.

Fig: Reaping

2. Threshing: Separating the food grains, such as paddy, wheat, etc., from the rest of the cut crop is called the process of threshing.

Fig: Threshing

3. Cleaning: Cleaning is an important part of the harvesting process, which mainly involves how to remove dust, and immature and non-grain particles from the edible food grains.

Fig: Cleaning

4. Hauling: Hauling is the last process or step in harvesting. In this step, the food grains are moved to the threshing location.

Fig: Hauling

5. Field Drying: Field drying is an optional step. The field drying method is to leave the cut crops in the field and expose them to the sun for drying. Drying helps to loosen the grains from the raw grass.

6. Stacking/Pilling: Stacking is a method of storing the harvested crops in stacks or piles.

7. Bagging: Bagging is the last stage in the harvesting process. The threshed grains are left into gunny bags for transport and storehouse purposes.

Storage of Grains

Fig: Storage

Storage is the final step of agricultural practices. The harvested grains are deposited in warehouses for upcoming use and selling purposes. Therefore, a better storage protection process must be used to protect grains from rodents and insect pests. Cleaning, fumigation, and drying are done to the stockroom before the grains are stored or deposited. The grains are later transported to dissimilar places throughout the year.

Importance of Harvesting

1. Harvesting crops by using advanced technology reduces the wastage of grains and increases in quality and quantity.
2. The direction of cutting fruits, grains and vegetables are very important during harvesting to save the quality of the fruits and also, we should see that the tools used should not damage the plant.
3. Harvesting at the right stage enriches the quality of grains or seed protection.

Rainwater Harvesting

Harvesting can be even considered with water since we store rainwater for our future use.

Rainwater harvesting is the gathering and storage of rain rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is accumulated from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit, aquifer, or reservoir with percolation so that it seeps down and restores the groundwater.

Summary

Harvesting is the act of gathering the edible parts of the plant after they approach the stage of maturity. Harvesting of crops is done using many tools and types of machinery in the agricultural fields. The tools that are used while harvesting, such as sickle, darat, gandasa, axe, etc., to harvest the crops like paddy, wheat, maize, grass, etc. Hand harvesting, harvesting with hand tools and harvesting with machinery are the three harvesting methods. Reaping, threshing, cleaning and hauling are the four stages of harvesting. The importance of harvesting crops by using advanced technology reduces the wastage of grains and increases in quality and quantity.

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FAQs on Harvesting

Q.1: What is agriculture harvesting?
Ans: Harvesting is the act of gathering the edible parts of the plant after they approach the stage of maturity. Harvesting of crops is done using many tools and types of machinery in the agricultural fields. In general, the harvest takes place \(10\) or \(15\) days after the grain has reached physiological maturity.

Q.2: What are the stages of harvesting?
Ans: Reaping, threshing, cleaning and hauling are the four stages of harvesting.

Q.3: What are the three methods of harvesting?
Ans: Hand harvesting, harvesting with hand tools and harvesting with machinery are the three harvesting methods.

Q.4: What is harvesting tools?
Ans: Tools play an essential role during harvesting. Many tools are used while harvesting, such as sickle, darat, gandasa, axe, etc., to harvest the crops like paddy, wheat, maize, grass, etc.

Q.5: What do you do with corn stalks after harvesting?
Ans: Corn stalks can be reused as mulch, compost, decorations, or as feed for animals after harvesting.