Reaping the harvest

In a Home Garden the post harvesting period is a most satisfying and wonderful time where you reap the results of your hard work. It is a time of great joy where you have a healthy, nourishing and wholesome source of food. Green Thumbs speaks to Maharagama Agrarian Service Center, Agriculture Instructor Anuruddhika Perera on the Post Harvesting Period.

A home garden has many crops such as vegetables, fruits, root crops, leafy vegetables and spices. Here it is crucial that we identify the correct stage of reaping the harvest. This differs from crop to crop. This is because all home garden crops are perishable. If we do not harvest these crops at the correct time, the quality decreases. Your crop is your source of food and it can even be your income, it the crops are left to over-mature you can lose a valuable stock of crop which will be a major setback to your home garden. If you operate a home garden where you sell the excess to the market, then your post harvesting involves cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing.

“If the crops are left to over mature the Carbohydrates start to convert to Sucrose (sugar) and because of that the quality decreases. And then the water percentage also decreases. The fiber amount increases. Then the appearance of the crop changes and it perishes. If we do not harvest at the correct time we lose 20 – 30 percent of the crop,” said Perera.

Perera also pointed out that when the crop over matures the ethylene hormone develops. Here one must be very careful. The parts of the fruit or vegetable that is over matured (with a high percentage of ethylene hormone) needs to be discarded or separated. Otherwise the other parts of the crop get affected. The parts of the crop that are matured start to quickly over mature themselves and those that are not yet matured start to mature. So there are advantages and disadvantages.

Let us now examine how to reduce the post- harvest loss in vegetables in the home garden: It you take Okra, you know when to harvest it when it feels soft to the touch. When fiber increases it is hard. When it can be easily broken you canharvest. You need to use the correct tool to pluck it or the plant gets damaged and the next harvest will be late. Snake Gourd has over-matured when dark green strips emerge and the ashy texture decreases. When it is ashy colored you can harvest.Bitter Gourd comes in three forms – Thinnaveli, Hybrid and MC 43. Thinnaveli has a white color. Hybrid and MC 43 have a green and white color. When Thinnaveli over matures it turns yellow color. When Hybrid and MC 43 over matures it is dark green or red. Brinjals are harvested when they become soft. When it over matures the color changes. Harvest when the area near the stem increases in wholeness.

If we take root crops and leafy vegetables after harvesting we cannot keep them for over two or three days in the normal environment. Manioc should be kept under ground for eight to ten months. Sweet potato harvesting time is 3 ½ months. Leafyvegetables, from the day we first plant, it can be harvested after 1 ½ months. If not they over-mature and the fiber amount increases. Here it needs to be cleaned. If the leaves becomes yellow they must be removed. Otherwise the rest of the crop become yellow.

If you take fruits, they too must be harvested at the ideal time. Fruits can be divided into two – Climacteric and Non- Climacteric.

“Climacteric fruits need to ripen on the tree. It if is not ripened on the tree and it is plucked then it will not ripe. However if it is Non-climacteric and it is picked before ripening on the tree it ripens on its own. Examples for Climacteric fruits are mango, Rambutang, Beli and Anoda and examples for Non Climacteric are Guava, Papua and Avocado. If you take mangoes, when the gum appears we know that it is at the mature stage and ripening. Because of the gum the fruit starts to perish. So the correct tools need to be used. Here the hot water technique should be used.

The mango fruit needs to be dipped in warm water then cleaned and stored in a dry place,” pointed out Perera.

Insect damage too needs to be minimized and for this an organic pesticide can be used such as Neem extract. As discussed in our early articles if there is a lack of soil a hydroponic system can be used or you can cultivate in soil. Here when cultivating in soil you need a ready availability of compost because compost has a direct effect.

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REASONS FOR LOSING 20- 30 PERCENT OF THE CROP

Use of proper tools will prevent unnecessary injury to the produce being harvested.The Correct maturity stage has been overlooked/ improper harvesting (This differs from crop to crop)

The vehicle is overloaded and the load is not stable and well ventilated.

The produce is not protected against sun, rain and dust and needs to be covered by a light colored tarpaulin

Excessive speeding, sudden stops and jerk causes squeezing and bruising of the product

Poor roads, uneven surfaces, pot holes, winding corners will all greatly increase mechanical damage unless adequate care is taken.

Transport problems (here transport conditions need to be taken into account along with cleanliness/ sanitation and temperature)Mechanical damagesInsect damage Environmental conditions – drought, flood and heat damage Poor handling of the produce from the field through to the market placeInappropriate container and use of packaging materialLack of adequate and appropriate storage facilities/ poor storage conditions