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 t...

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.

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