Yellowing of leaves is the prominent symptom
of maturity.
The leaf yellowing is associated with leaf shedding
(particularly, the older ones), development of proper colour of shell
and a dark tint on the inner side of the shells.
Usually the crop takes about 120 to 140 days time
to mature depending upon the variety and the harvesting is done in the
month of October-November accordingly.
At maturity the crop is badly damaged by crows,
jackals, pigs, etc., which need vigilance.
After maturity the bunch and semi-spreading types
are generally harvested by hand pulling at an appropriate soil moisture,
while the spreading types are harvested by digging out the plants with
the help of khurpi, spade or by ploughing the field.
The left out pods in the soil are collected by
hand, later. The pulled out plants are stacked in a safe place for a
few days to dry and are stripped afterwards.
The stripped pods are cleaned nicely and dried
to a safe moisture content of not more than 5 per cent before they are
stored because dampness will cause fermentation of pods and allow to
develop the poisonous moulds like Aspergillus flavus in the kernel.
These moulds lead to contamination with aflatoxin
which create a health hazards to both human and cattle who consume the
kernels.
Yield
The pod yield is controlled by several
factors like climate, soil and variety potentiality.
In general, the irrigated groundnut crop produces
about 15-20 quintal pods/hectare and rainfed about 8-10 quintal pods/ha.
The yield of haulms is usually two to two and
a half times to that of pods’ yield.
The shelling percentage ranges between 70-75 per
cent and the kernels have on an average 45 to 50 per cent oil in them.
All the damaged or injured pods must be
sorted out before they are stored. Well cleaned and dried pods to 5
per cent moisture level should be stored after filling in gunny bags.
These gunny bags are stacked in a store room in
tiers comprising not more than ten bags in each tier.
The tiers must be stacked on wooden planks in such
a way that the air keeps on circulating to avoid damage from dampness,
rats, etc.
The room should be inspected periodically and proper
control measures of rats and pests should be taken.
The store should be fumigated, if needed and made
airtight. The groundnut should be stored in the form of pods rather
than kernels but the broken and damaged pods must be taken out and discarded.
Apart from this the undersized/underdeveloped and
unfilled pods (pop-pods) should also be discarded because their presence
reduces the market price.
Storage is invariably in the form of unshelled
pods.
The important aspects to be considered in the storage
of groundnut pods are that the pods have to be kept dry and free from
insect and rodent damage, prevent the absorption of off-flavours and
development of rancidity.
Moisture content is the most critical factor in
harvesting, drying, storing and marketing of groundnuts. All produce
intended for storage should be well dried and should not have more than
5 per cent moisture.
The pods are generally stored in earthen pots,
mud bins, bamboo or wicker type baskets often plastered with mud and
cowdung.
The top is left uncovered. Pods are also stored
in gunny bags but they are liable to damage due to dampness, rats and
other storage pests.
The pods are also stored loose in rooms with mud
or cement or stone flooring.
The loss in such storage is mainly through damage
by rodents.
In the assembling markets, decorticating factories
and oil mills, the pods are generally stored either loose or in bags.
As kernels are more susceptible to damage than
pods, shelling is done a few days before kernels are crushed for oil
or exported.
In storage, the stack base should be on raised
stands and not touch the hard flooring.
Sand should be spread on the floor to about a foot
high and covered with gunny.
Stacks should be in not more than 10 bags piled
one over the other depending upon the height of the godown and the space
available.
The pile of bags of groundnut pods has to be kept
four to five feet below the roof to allow free circulation of air.
In any case, about 20 per cent of the total space
should be allowed between the top layer of the stack and ceiling.
Each stack has to be separated from the wall and
its neighbour by an alley of about two feet to allow for ventilation
and proper inspection.
There should be proper ventilation in the stores.
Ventilators should be kept open only on dry days. Produce from the summer
crop deteriorates rapidly and should not be stored for long periods.
Groundnut pods with initial moisture content of
about 4 per cent are not spoilt even for one year when stored at room
temperature while kernels deteriorate after two months.
Deterioration of groundnut pods can be prevented
by storing them in properly built stores made rat and insect proof and
well ventilated.
Such storage facilities have to be increasingly
provided in regulated markets and the space hired out to farmers to
store the produce for sale when market prices are favourable.
Lack of storage space drives the farmers to make
distress sales.
Harvesting And Storage
