Harvesting, Threshing and Value Addition

Harvesting is the removal of economic part or the entire plant from the field after maturity of
the crop. The economic product may be grain, seed, fruit, root, leaf or the entire plant.
Time of harvest plays an important role in ensuring quality and quantity of produce.
If harvested early,

 the grain may be immature with higher moisture content which results in poor
quality produce.
 higher moisture content reduces the storage life and makes the grain
susceptible to insect pest attack.
 reduction in quantity of produce when the crop is harvested prematurely.
Ex: - immature kernel in groundnut are shrivelled after drying.
- reduces soluble sugar content sugarcane
- reduces the yield of rice, pulses and oilseeds.

If harvested delay:

 shattering of grain in rapeseed and mustard, blackgram, greengram,

 viviparous germination in paddy, groundnut
 deteriorates quality of sweetcorn, babycorn, fruits, veg. & greens
 reduces sugar content sugarcane
 rotting of potato, ginger and turmeric (root crops)

Stages of crop harvesting: Crops can be harvested either at

 Physiological maturity: when the translocation of photosynthates are stopped to
economic part due to formation of abscission layer in between the rachis and the
grain. A stage after which there is no further increase in the dry matter content of
the economic part.
o Seed moisture content in cereal grains falls from 40 to 20%.
o black layer at the placental region of the kernel/grain of maize/ sorghum
o complete loss of green colour of the glumes in wheat
o pods turn brown in pulses & leaves turn yellow
o Groundnut pod develops black stint inner layer

Crop can be harvested at physiological maturity stage when there is

 good market demand of the produce,

 if it is necessary to vacate the field for subsequent crop
 there is forecast of natural calamities.
 Harvest maturity: usually occurs seven days after physiological maturity. During this
period, there is loss of moisture from the plant which enhances the storage life of grains.
The general symptoms of harvest maturity are drying of grains or pods, yellowing of
leaves and drying up of the entire plant.

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 Time of harvesting can be judged by the duration of the crop. However, it varies with
climatic condition, growing season and agronomic management like crop establishment
(DSR, TPR, SRI), nutrient and water management
Harvesting stages of crops
Crop Stages/Symptoms
Rice  Appearance of hard and yellow coloured grains
 About 80 % of panicles turn straw colour
 About 85-90 % of grains in a panicle turn brown in colour
 < 1% grain in milk stage
 < 20 % of grain moisture content
Wheat  Yellowing of spikelets
 Grains are in hard dough stage
 Grain moisture content of about 15 %
Maize (grain)  Drying of whole plants
 Husk colour turns pale brown
 Appearance of black layer at placental region of the kernel
 Grain moisture content is < 25 %
Maize (green  Husk colour green and silk completely dried
cob)  appearance of milky substance when kernels punctured by nail
Baby corn  Just after emergence of white silk
Sorghum  Yellow coloured ears with hard grains
 Grain moisture content < 28 %
Pulses  Yellowing of whole plants
 Brown coloured pods with hard seed
Groundnut  Yellowing of leaves
 Appearance of dark patches inside the shell
 Kernel colour turns red/pink
Rapeseed &  Yellowing of whole plants
mustard  Pods turn straw colour
Sunflower  Heads turn brownish black
 Seeds become hard
 Seed colour changes to dark brown or black
Sugarcane  Leaves turn yellow
 Sucrose content > 10 %
 Brix reading > 18 %
Cotton  5 days after bolls fully opened
Jute  Early flowering stage
Tobacco  Leaves turn slightly yellow in colour
 Specks appear on the leaves

Determination of harvest date is easier in case of determinate crops as compared to

indeterminate crops as at a particular time, there is presence of flowers, immature and mature
fruits. It becomes difficult to decide exact date of harvesting of indeterminate crops. Hence, it
is recommended for intermittent picking of fruits/pods to get a good harvest.

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Harvesting of fodder crops needs special care. Depends on

 Presence of toxins in the plant parts,

 nutritive value,
 purpose of harvest and
 numbers of cutting.
The nutritive value of fodders decreases with advancement of age of the crop as the
protein content decreases and fibre content increases with aging. Nitrogen content (protein)
in fodder grasses declines from 2-3% at the initial to 0.5 to 0.75% at flowering. For stall
feeding, the crop is harvested when the leaf is succulent and the protein content is high, but
for hay making delayed few more days for higher quantity. Fodders containing more
carbohydrate and less protein are suitable for good quality silage. In case of single cut, the
crop is harvested early from the base level of the plant. In case of multi-cut crop, harvesting
is done at regular interval by cutting the plant at a stubble height of 5-15 cm depending on
length of internode. Animals are allowed to graze
- continuous grazing-throughout growing season-less labour but unevengrazing.
- rotational grazing- animals allowed to graze the sub-units in rotation-more cost for labour
and fencing.
- rational grazing (strip grazing)- most advanced and efficient -harmonizes plant growth with
the nutritional needs of the animals- not allowed regrazing for the second time -labour
intensive.

Method of harvesting

Manual or Mechanical. Manual harvesting is done by

 Cutting the plant as in case of rice, wheat, jute, arhar
 Picking as in case of maize, cotton
 Uprooting as in case of groundnut
 Digging as in case of potato

Harvest machinery:
Sickle, Self-propelled power reaper, Reaper binders, Tractor operated groundnut
digger-shaker, bhindi plucker, Combine harvester, Potato digger elevetor

General problems associated with harvesting

Unexpected change in weather like untimely rain, sudden hailstorm and cyclone
create problem in harvesting.
 Continuous rain-damping of grains-susceptible to fungal/bacterial attack.
 Hailstorm may result in shattering of grain and damage of fruits.
 Crops are lodged due to high speed wind flow, which hinders harvest.
 Water stressed - difficult to dig out potato/ [Link]
 Unavailability of labour at the peak harvest time

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Threshing: Separation of grains from the plant is known as threshing. May be done
immediately after harvest or few days later. Threshing of cereals, millets and some pulses
done by beating with stick, stone or with any other hard material. Threshing is also done by
treading under the feet of cattle or by tractor or by manual and power operated threshers.
Others are: Multi crop thresher, maize shellers,sunflower thresher, groundnut stripper,
sugarcane stripper
Winnowing is the separation of grains from chaffs and other unwanted materials.
Traditionally, wind power is used to separate grain from husk or chaff. In case of feed-in type
threshers the threshing and winnowing operation are accomplished simultaneously to get the
clean grain.
Drying: a process by which moisture content from grain is reduced to safe limit. Moisture
content of grain at harvest is about 18-20%. For safe storage, it should be reduced to 12-14 %
in paddy, < 10 % in wheat, maize, arhar, < 8 % in oilseeds. For storage of seeds, the
moisture content should be 1-2 % lower than that of grain.
Natural drying: after harvest, the grain is kept in the field or threshing floor for few days-
very slow.
Sun drying: grains are put in a thin layer under direct sunlight-faster.
Storage
 consumption is a continuous process.
 Low market price at harvest time

Food grains and oilseeds stored for longer period than F&V. During storage, agricultural
commodities are subjected to several losses due to insects, rodents, birds and micro-
organisms. In addition to loss in quantity, the quality of food grain is also affected during
storage. Several factors like moisture content, quality of produce, climate and condition of
store affect the storage period. Higher grain moisture content and relative humidity of the
store results in severe insect and micro-organisms attack. It also generates the heat inside the
store that results in grain germination at times. Therefore, grains should be clean of impurities
and dry enough with minimum moisture content for longer storage without loss in quality.
Vegetables and fruits are stored in refrigerated condition with at -1 to 8 0C and 80-95% RH.
Frozen storage at < -10 0 C (Peas & mushroom). Ventilated storage system for onion and
garlic (where air can easily flow into all parts of the storage chamber and heat is taken out).
Zero energy cool chamber, made up of brick wall are used for short term storage of
vegetables for domestic consumption.
Post-harvest management and value addition: stage through which an agricultural produce
passes from harvest till consumption is post-harvest management- drying, storage and value
addition. Depending on moisture content, the agricultural products are classified as durables,
semi perishables and perishables.
Durables: shelf life few months to one/two years- moisture content of grains is 8 to 20%. Ex:
grains of rice, wheat, maize, millets, pulses, oilseeds etc.
Semi perishables: shelf life few weeks to few months. Ex: potato, yam, onion, garlic, ginger
Perishables: Shelf life is very short, may be of few days. The moisture content is usually >70
%. Ex; fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, fish, etc.

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 General post-harvest operations
Basic post-harvest operations aimed at three major processes:
 conversion of raw material to edible form,
 processing & value addition and
 storage & preservation.

The processing operations can also be broadly classified into:

Primary processing: When the agricultural commodities are processed to improve the
quality by cleaning, grading and drying without changing the basic form of the produce
Secondary processing: value addition is the main focus of activity. In this case, there is
change in the form of the produce. Ex: conversion of wheat to flour, dal to beshan
Tertiary processing: Preparation of extruded products from the products developed after
secondary processing of the agri-produces. Ex: preparation of biscuits, cakes, sweets
Processed products prepared from various agricultural commodities:

Crop Product range

Cereals
Rice Parboiled rice (hydro-thermal treatment), Raw rice, Popped rice, Puffed rice,
Flour, Sweets, Dosa and Idli mix
Wheat Rawa, Puffed wheat, Flaked wheat, Bread, Cakes, Extruded snacks, Pastries,
Biscuits, Spaghetti, Vermicelli, Malt, Wheat germ
Maize Flour, Semolina, Corn starch, Soup mix, Popped corn
Ragi Flour, infant foods
Pulses
Arhar Dal, RTS foods
Greengram&Blackgram Dal, RTS snacks, Papad, Chikkies, Badi,Dosa and Idli mix
Bengal gram Besan, Sattu, Sweets, roasted and deep fried snacks
Oil seeds
Groundnut Boiled. roasted and fried snacks,Chikkies, Ladoos, Peanut butter
Sesamum Chikkies, Ladoos, Sweets etc.
Mustard Spice powder, Mustard sauce (Kasundi)
Fruits & Vegetables
Mango Pulp (canned aseptic), Juice, Squash, Drink(RTS), Jam, Jelly, Sheets etc.
Banana Chips
Citrus Segments, Squash, Juice, RTS, Jam, Marmalade, Pectin (from rind)
Papaya Pulp,Tuty-Fruity
Pine apple Juice, Juice Concentrates, Slice, Tit Bits, Pulp, Jam, Osmo-air dried slices, RTS
Potato French fries, Chips, Starch
Onion Pickle, Dehydrated onion, fried onion
Sweet potato Chips, Flour, Starch
Tomato Sauce, Puree, Pickle
Other vegetables Canned, Frozen, Dehydrated, Pickled
Coconut Powder, Dried Copra, Milk, Cream, Grates (dried), Sweets
Spices
Coriander, Garlic, Ground spices, Spice mixes, Curry powder, Curry paste Spice-oils, Flake,
Ginger, Turmeric, Oleoresins, Pickles
Chillies