Plantation Crops

Harvesting and yield

Hastening fruit ripening in coffee
Purpose: Speedy and uniform ripening will give scope for quick and early harvest = reduced cost of harvesting in coffee.

Harvesting the berries
In India there is only one cropping season. Arabica coffee harvested from November to January and Robusta coffee from December to February. The crop will be ready for the first harvest in about 3 - 4 years but economic yields are obtained from 5 - 12 years onwards upto 50 years.
• The berries are harvested when they turn red to deep crimson colour. Season of harvest is from October to February. Harvesting is done in stages as follows;

  Fly picking: Small scale picking of ripe berries from October - November to February

  Main picking: Well formed ripe berries are harvested in December.

  Stripping: All left over berries irrespective of ripening are harvested after main picking.

  Gleanings: Collection of fruits that have dropped down during harvesting.