What is harvesting?
Harvesting is the process of collecting the mature rice crop from the field. Harvesting consists of cutting, threshing, cleaning, hauling and bagging. Field drying and stacking or piling are optional. Harvesting can be performed manually using sickles and knives, or mechanically with threshers or combine harvesters.
Why is proper harvesting important?
Harvesting at the right time and in the right way maximizes grain yield and minimizes grain losses and quality deterioration.
When to harvest
Harvest according to the grain’s moisture content. This is critical for a good harvest. For more information, see IRRI’s Measuring Moisture Content fact sheet.