Harvesting, Post-harvest Handling, and Marketing Spice Crops
NEXT LESSON
Harvesting
Onion and garlic are ready for harvest as soon as the
stalks begin to wither and dry normally or at about 100 to 140 days. Harvesting
garlic and onion can be done by simply hand pulling. When harvesting onion and
garlic, uproot the bulb individually together with the leaves from the loosened
soil.
Ginger matures in six to eight months. When the leaves of
the ginger plant start to fall aside and begin to dry, the rhizomes are ready
for harvest. In harvesting ginger, the use of digging tools is advisable to
ensure that the rhizomes will be pulled out intact.
Harvesting black pepper normally starts three years after
planting. However, black pepper plants from marcotted stems start bearing fruit after a year. The
berries of peppercorns in spike mature in five to six months. Peppercorns are
ready for harvest when two to three of the berries in same spikes change its
color from green to orange and the seed is hard when pinched. The fruit spike
is carefully pick by hand. To pick, twist off the spike while holding the
preduncle steady so as not to break any branch. Separate the peppercorns from
spike immediately.
Pepper. On the other hand, is harvested when the fruit
starts to turn red. Harvesting is done by hand picking.
Post-Harvest Handling
1.
Onion and garlic. These spice will have the
following process in post-harvest handling;
a. Cutting
and cleaning. The upper part and roots of the bulb are cut to desirable length
and cleaned free of soil.
b. Curing.
This is done by sun drying the freshly harvested garlic and onion bulbs in the
field or near the house to avoid pilferage. Bulbs should be sundried for an
average of six hours daily for two to five days depending upon the intensity of
sunlight until the outer layer of the skin is dried.
c. Packing
braiding. They will be sorted after cleaning, separating the small, medium, and
large. Onion is often packed in plastic nets.
d. Storing.
Bulbs which are intended for future use are stored for it to command a better
price. The storage room should be dry with relative humidity of 70 percent or
lower to prevent mold and root development.
2.
Ginger. Post-harvest handling of ginger includes
grading, curing, and storing.
Ginger is classified and graded
based on the soundness and size of the rhizomes. Each class is placed in a
separate container. The ginger is then washed and stored or sold to the market
at once if desired.
Curing ginger is done by subjecting
the rhizomes to warm air with a temperature of 105oF under a shed which has all
its side open.
3.
Black pepper. The harvested spikes are piled for
drying. During the process, the berries turn black and can be easily separated
from the spike by hand. The berries should a moisture content of about 12 percent
before these are stored in sacks or sold to spice factories.
Marketing
Following pointers must consider in having efficient
marketing system;
1.
Observe
proper timing. Spice can be stored and their harvesting period can be
adjusted.
2.
Avoid
selling through middlemen. Direct consumer trade is more effective than
selling through middlemen. In most cases the middlemen gains better than the
producers.
3.
Practice
collective selling. If possible, establish a union or cooperative to
protect spice crop producers, so that raisers will get the more profit from
what they have produced.
We are giving FREE Selling and Business Consultation; please
click the link below,
We prepare Speech and Messages; please click the link below,