ragi-harvesting

Ragi Harvesting

  • Ragi matures 3-5 months after sowing, depending on variety, season and soil properties.
  • Harvest the crop when the ears are yellowish brown.
  • Heap the harvested ears and cover the heaps with ragi straw for 2-3 days before threshing.
  • Dried earheads are beaten with sticks, sheaves are trodden by bullocks or crushed by stone rollers. Separated grains are winnowed and cleaned.
  • Straw from irrigated plants is coarse and thick and is rarely cut. It is grazed down or sometimes turned under as manure for next crop
  • Grain is higher in protein, fat and minerals than rice, corn, or sorghum.
  • It is usually converted into flour and made into cakes, puddings, or porridge.
  • The grain is used in the preparation of food items such as ragi dosa, ragi balls, pancake, vermicelli, malt, biscuit, beer, papads, millet mix, bread, roti etc.
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1. Stages of Harvesting

  • Ragi matures 3 to 5 months after sowing, depending on variety, season and soil properties.
  • When the earhead on the main shoot and 50% of the earheads on the crop turn brown, the crop is ready for the harvest.
  • Rainfed crops are cut close to ground, stalks are allowed to wither for a day or two in field, and then bundled and stacked before threshing.
  • The earhead do not have synchronous maturity. Therefore, staggered harvesting at weekly interval is recommended.
 ragicultivatinstage

First harvest

  •  Cut all earheads which have turned brown.
  •  Dry, thresh and clean the grains by winnowing.

Second harvest

  •  Seven days after the first harvest, cut all the earheads including the green ones.
  • Cure the grains to obtain maturity by heaping the harvested earheads in shade for one day without drying, so that the humidity and temperature increase and the grains get cured.
  • Dry, thresh and clean the grains by winnowing and store the grains in gunnies.
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2. Method of harvesting

  • Harvesting is the process of gathering a crop. In ragi, harvesting refers to the cutting and gathering of earheads along the stalks.
  • Once the plant attains  maturity stage and the grains turns brown colour, harvesting process is commenced.
  • Generally, harvesting is done manually. This is the most widely used method of harvesting.
  •  When the earheads turns brown color or at maturity stage, cut the earheads alone or cut the stalk along with ear heads by using sickles. 
  • Avoid harvesting during wet weather conditions
  • Harvest the crop when the grains become hard and contain sufficient moisture
  • Avoid pest infestation prior to harvesting
  • Stalks are allowed to wither  for one or two days in the field, then bundled and stocked  for sometime depending upon the weather conditions before threshing.
 ragi-harvest-methods
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3. Yield

  • The average yield of rainfed crop ranges from 1.0 to 1.5 tonnes grain/ha, whereas irrigated crop yields up to 5.0 tonnes/ha.
  • Yield depends on variety and is directly related to duration, height and tillering capacity of type grown.
  • Types with straight spikes give better yields than those with curved spikes. The fodder yield ranges from 3.0 to 9.0 tonnes/ha in case early group and 9.5-10.0 tonnes/ha in late group.
  • The straw of finger millet is a nutritious fodder. It can be conserved by putting up in well-built stakes.
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