UNIT V
Harvesting
Harvesting or reaping is the act of removing a crop
from where it was growing and moving it to a more
secure location for processing, consumption or storage.
➢ Major factor determining the time of harvest is the
maturity of the crop, other factors such as weather,
availability of harvest equipment, pickers, packing and
storage facilities, and transport are important
considerations.
➢ Harvesting a crop at an appropriate stage of maturity
minimizes the field losses, thereby, increasing the total
yield.
Harvesting containers
• Harvesting containers must be easy to handle for
workers picking fruits and vegetables in the field.
• Many crops are harvested into bags, Harvesting bags
with shoulder or waist slings can be used for fruits with
firm skins, like citrus fruits and avocados.
• These containers are made from a variety of materials
such as paper, polyethylene film, sisal, hessian or woven
polyethylene and are relatively cheap but give little
protection to the crop against handling and transport
damage.
• Sacks are commonly used for crops such as potatoes,
onions, cassava, and pumpkins.
Tools for Harvesting
• Depending on the type of fruit or vegetable, several
devices are employed to harvest produce. Commonly
used tools for fruit and vegetable harvesting are
secateurs or knives, and hand held or pole mounted
picking shears.
Harvesting Methods
1. Manual harvesting
• Cutting Knives and digging tools
• Ladder
• Hand held or pole mounted picking bags
• Cushioning materials around tree
• Sickle, scythe or cradle
2. Mechanical harvesting
• Harvesting machines
Harvest Management
• Timing of Harvest:
Harvesting should be done at the right time to ensure
optimal crop quality. This involves monitoring crop
maturity and considering weather conditions.
• Gentle Harvesting Techniques
Use methods that minimize damage to the crops. Hand
harvesting is often preferred over mechanical
harvesting for many organic crops
• Avoiding Contamination:
Prevent contamination of the crops with synthetic
chemicals or non-organic materials during harvesting.
This includes using clean, well-maintained harvesting
equipment.
• Selective Harvesting:
Selectively harvest crops to ensure that only mature
and healthy plants are harvested, leaving behind
underdeveloped or damaged ones.
• Proper Handling:
Handle harvested crops carefully to minimize bruising
or damage. This is particularly important for fruits and
vegetables.
• Record Keeping:
Maintain records of the harvest, including dates,
quantities, and any observations. This information can
be valuable for future planning and quality control.
Introduction
• Post – harvest management can be defined as
methods and techniques applied to increase the shelf
life of products.
• Post harvest activities include harvesting, handling,
storage, processing, packaging, transportation and
marketing.
• Post harvest system should be thought of as
encompassing the delivery of crop from the time and
place of harvest to the time and place of consumption
, with minimum loss, maximum efficiency and
maximum return for all involved
Post harvest Management Practices
• Pre-Cooling
Pre-cooling is the removal of heat from the crops
immediately after harvest. The heat may be released
due to ongoing respiration process within the crops and
outer environment.
To achieve maximum storage life for many crops or to
reduce losses during their marketable life, it is essential
to keep them at the most appropriate temperature.
• Pre-cooling methods
➢ Top icing
This has been used for many decades and is also called
contact icing.
It is commonly applied to boxes of produce by placing a
layer of crushed ice directly on top of the crop.
The ice melts and the cold water runs down through the
crop and cools it.
➢ Room cooling
This method simply involves placing the crop in a cold
store.
➢Forced-air cooling
The principle of this type of pre-cooling is to place the
crop in the cold room but to arrange the airflow pattern
so that it is forced directly through the crop.
By doing this the heat given out from the surface of the
crop is carried away in the stream of cold air, thus
setting up a temperature gradient, hence cooling the
crop more quickly.
➢ Hydrocooling
cooling crops by contact with cooled water is much
quicker than transfer of heat from the crop to air.
Hydrocooling can therefore be very quick and result in
no loss of weight of the crop
• Curing
Curing is a high temperature [(26.5-32°C) (80-90°F)] and
high relative humidity (90-98% RH) treatment
immediately after harvest.
The total duration of the curing treatment ranges from
2 to 7 days, depending on the crop and environmental
conditions.
Threshing
• The threshing process separates the grain from the
rest of the plant.
• Usually this is completed by rubbing, stripping, or
beating the plant.
• To maintain the high quality of the harvested grains, it
should be threshed immediately after harvesting.
Cleaning
• Seeds or grains after separation from straw still
contain a sufficient quantity of chaff and broken plant
residue that passed through the oscillating straw rack
or straw walker with the seed.
• Cleaning of grain by winnowing is an ancient method.
• In all cleaning mechanisms, the assistance of air is
mainly utilized.
Storage
• The marketable life of most fresh vegetables can be
extended by prompt storage in an environment that
maintains product quality.
• The desired environment can be obtained in facilities
where temperature, air circulation, relative humidity,
and sometimes atmosphere composition can be
controlled.
• In situ
This method of storing fruits and vegetables involves
delaying the harvest until the crop is required.
• Sand or coir: This storage technique is used in
countries like India to store potatoes for longer periods
of time, which involves covering the commodity
underground with sand.
• Pits or trenches: Pits are dug at the edges of
the field where the crop has been grown. Usually pits
are placed at the highest point in the field, especially in
regions of high rainfall.
• Cellars: These underground or partly underground
rooms are often beneath a house. This location has
good insulation, providing cooling in warm ambient
conditions and protection from excessively low
temperatures in cold climates.
Packaging
• Packaging is required for food preservation,
protection and for safe transportation of products
during storage and handling.
• Provide information to buyers, such as variety,
weight, number of units, selection or quality grade,
producer’s name, country and area of origin.
• Frequently included are recipes, nutritional value, bar
codes or any other relevant information on
traceability.
There are two types of packaging:
• (1) consumer/retail packaging
• (2) transport/bulk packaging
Consumer/retail pack: Plastic film, pulp
container, plastic net bag, foam guard sleeve,
etc.
Transport/bulk pack: Plastic woven sac, jute sac,
bamboo basket, wooden box, corrugated fibre
box, etc.
• Packaging plays a very important role in
protecting fresh produce:
• It provides protection from dust;
• It reduces microbial contamination from the
surrounding environment and from consumer
contact;
• It helps to maintain the freshness of produce;
• It extends the postharvest shelf life;
• It increases the sale of fresh produce.
Packaging Methods
• Film packaging: Different types of flexible plastics like
Polyethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC),
Polypropylene (PP), etc. are used
• Shrink wrap packaging: On heating, the plastic shrink wrap
shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be
applied with a hand held heat gun (electric or gas) or the
product and film can pass through a heat tunnel on a
conveyor
• Vacuum packaging: It is a method of packaging that
removes air from the package prior to sealing. The intent
is usually remove oxygen from the container to extend the
shelf life of foods and, with flexible package forms, to
reduce the volume of the contents and package
• Intelligent packaging: Package function switches on
and off in response to changing external or internal
conditions and communicate to the consumer about
the status of the product.
• Edible coatings and films: Coating of fruits and
vegetables with edible materials, e.g. edible wax,
carboxy methyl cellulose (cmc),whey proteins
• Biodegradable Packaging: Use of bio based
polymers to overcome environmental problems arising
out of the use of non biodegradble materials such as
polyesters, polyester amides, poly vinyl alcohol, starch
material, cellulose material, polyhydroxy acids
Marketing
The series of services involved in moving a product (or
commodity) from the point of production to the point
of consumption.
There are three essential rules to marketing organic
products:
• know your product’s performance and nature
• know the regulatory requirements
• know your customers.
