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Harvest

Maturity, method and handling. 15 practices across 12 crops.

Summary of cited sources. TERAknow summarises published guidance from the sources linked on each page. Recommendations are general, not guaranteed: results depend on your soil, climate and variety, so confirm with local extension staff or an agronomist before acting.

Banana · Pisang

Full banana guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest & ratoon

    Harvest green, at about three-quarters maturity

    Cut whole, blemish-free bunches while still green and about three-quarters mature, so fruit ripens evenly after harvest.

    Technical detail
    • Cut the bunch stalk 20 to 25 cm above the first hand.
    • Leave the top cut on the pseudostem after harvest.
    • Exact days from shooting to harvest depend on cultivar and climate; local data still to be added.
    Regions
    Widely applicable
    Confidence
    Medium confidence: one institutional guide
    Source
    Crop
    Banana guide

Chili · Cabai

Full chili guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest

    Pick often, in cool hours, with the stalk on

    Harvest begins about 70 to 75 days after transplanting in the lowlands and continues every 3 to 4 days.

    Technical detail
    • Pick in the morning or late afternoon using secateurs, keeping the stalk on the fruit.
    • Fresh-market fruit should be mature but firm.
    • Remove rotten fruit from the field at each picking rather than dropping it on the bed.
    Regions
    Indonesia · Malaysia
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Chili guide

Rubber · Karet

Full rubber guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Tapping

    Open trees only when they reach tapping girth

    Start tapping when the trunk is 50 cm in circumference at 1 m above the ground, which is usually about five years after planting.

    Technical detail
    • The cut slopes down at about 30 degrees from the horizontal.
    • Cut close to the cambium without touching it; FAO describes stopping about 1.5 mm short of it.
    • When the panel has been tapped down its full length (about 7 years), tapping restarts higher up. FAO describes about 28 years of harvest in total.
    Regions
    Widely applicable
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Source
    Crop
    Rubber guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Tapping

    Tap at daybreak and keep latex clean

    Latex flows best early in the morning; FAO notes that late-day tapping gives about a third less latex. Collect latex a few hours after tapping and keep cups clean.

    Technical detail
    • Collect cup contents about 4 hours after tapping.
    • Remove dried latex from the cut and bark, and clean cups regularly.
    • Tap each tree on a fixed schedule, and rest trees in the driest months.
    Regions
    Widely applicable
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Source
    Crop
    Rubber guide
    • Conventional
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Tapping

    Match tapping frequency and stimulant to clone type

    The Rubber Research Institute separates quick-starter clones (such as PB 260 and IRR clones) from slow-starter clones (such as BPM 24, PR 255, GT 1). They need different stimulant use.

    Technical detail
    • The standard system in that review is S/2 d3 with ethephon 2.5%. Quick starters respond less to stimulant and are prone to tapping panel dryness, so stimulant is limited (the text says at most 12 times a year). Slow starters can take stimulant up to 18 times a year, twice a month.
    • Moving to d4 cut tapping days from 100 to 75 a year and cut costs, but lowered output of quick-starter clones by about 20%. S/2 d6 was not recommended because returns did not cover costs.
    • The authors suggest d4 for slow-starter clones south of the equator when prices are low, and using latex diagnosis to keep trees healthy.
    Regions
    Indonesia
    Confidence
    Medium confidence: one institutional guide
    Source
    Crop
    Rubber guide
    • Conventional
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Tapping

    Use clones that hold yield under low-frequency tapping

    Not every clone copes with tapping every fourth day. Institute trials name clones that do relatively well, and give stimulant timing for d4.

    Technical detail
    • Sayurandi (2020): d3 still out-yielded d4 overall, but PB 330, IRR 104, IRR 220 and RRIM 901 gave comparatively high yields under 1/2S d4 with 2.5% ethephon.
    • For BPM 24 on S/2 d4 with 2.5% ethephon every two weeks, applying stimulant 45 hours before tapping worked best in one Getas trial, the same timing advised for d3.
    • New clones IRR 309 and IRR 310 (2025) respond strongly to ethephon, resist Corynespora and Colletotrichum leaf fall and can be opened at 4.5 to 5 years. They still need the right tapping system.
    Regions
    Indonesia
    Confidence
    Medium confidence: one institutional guide
    Sources
    Crop
    Rubber guide

Oil palm · Kelapa sawit

Full oil palm guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest rounds

    Harvest by loose fruit, every 7 to 10 days

    A bunch is ripe when at least one loose fruit has dropped. Bunch colour alone is unreliable. Short, regular rounds avoid overripe bunches and lost loose fruit.

    Technical detail
    • Smallholder handbook: harvest every 7 to 10 days; two-week rounds are common but leave overripe bunches. PPKS allows up to 15 days in low-crop periods and advises against 20 days or more.
    • Unripe bunches contain little oil and trigger mill deductions.
    • Get bunches to the mill fast: the handbook sets 24 hours; the 2003 Ministry of Agriculture guide advises within 8 hours, because free fatty acids rise after harvest.
    Regions
    Indonesia
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Oil palm guide

Coffee · Kopi

Full coffee guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Post-harvest

    Pick red cherries and dry off the ground

    Selective picking of ripe red cherries gives better quality. Dry quickly on raised racks, not on bare soil.

    Technical detail
    • Sort out green and black fruit after picking.
    • Philippine guide: start drying within 12 hours of harvest and sun-dry to 12 to 14% moisture.
    • Poorly dried beans let berry borers keep breeding in storage.
    Regions
    Indonesia · Philippines
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Coffee guide

Cocoa · Kakao

Full cocoa guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest & fermentation

    Pick ripe pods and ferment for up to 6 days

    Harvest pods as soon as they ripen: green pods turn yellow and red pods turn orange. Ferment in boxes and turn the mass daily.

    Technical detail
    • PNG handbook: pods can wait up to 2 days before breaking. Break them with a blunt stick, not in rain.
    • Fill boxes at least 50 to 65 cm deep, cover with banana leaves, turn every 24 hours, and stop at 6 days. The mass peaks around 50 °C on day 4.
    • Sun-dry in a layer about 2 cm deep, raking often. Bengkulu farmers harvest once a week.
    Regions
    Pacific · Indonesia
    Confidence
    Medium confidence: one institutional guide
    Sources
    Crop
    Cocoa guide

Tomato · Tomat

Full tomato guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest

    Pick every 2 to 3 days at the stage the market needs

    Harvest starts about 2.5 to 3 months after planting and gives 10 to 15 pickings.

    Technical detail
    • Distant markets: pick at the green-ripe stage, when the blossom end shows yellow.
    • Nearby markets: pick when the blossom end turns pink or red.
    • Cut with scissors or twist gently to avoid bruising.
    Regions
    Indonesia
    Confidence
    Medium confidence: one institutional guide
    Source
    Crop
    Tomato guide

Potato · Kentang

Full potato guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest

    Cut haulm before harvest, then dig, sort and cure

    Removing the tops before digging lets skins set. Sorting removes diseased tubers before storage.

    Technical detail
    • Balitsa (2021): cut plants 10 days before harvest; harvest when plants yellow or at 90 to 100 days.
    • Sort out diseased or damaged tubers in the field.
    • UMN Extension: if skins rub off easily, cure in a dark, ventilated place at about 16 to 18 C for 10 days or more.
    Regions
    Indonesia · Widely applicable
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Potato guide

Mango · Mangga

Full mango guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Fruit growth & harvest

    Pick mature fruit in cool hours and drain the sap

    Harvest when fruit shoulders fill out, in the early morning or late afternoon, with a stalk left on.

    Technical detail
    • Indonesian guide: pick 07.00 to 09.00 or 16.00 to 17.30, leave about 10 cm stalk, and hold the stalk down for about 5 minutes to drain latex.
    • Fruit that sinks in water is mature (TNAU, Kementan).
    • Hot water at 52°C for 5 minutes after harvest reduces anthracnose in storage (Pacific Pests, TNAU).
    Regions
    Indonesia · India (Tamil Nadu) · Pacific
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Mango guide

Durian · Durian

Full durian guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest

    Choose fallen-fruit or cut harvest to suit the market

    Naturally fallen fruit has the best eating quality but keeps only a few days. Cutting mature fruit gives slower ripening for distant markets.

    Technical detail
    • TFNet: Malaysian growers mostly collect fallen fruit; Thai growers mostly cut at maturity. Fallen fruit keeps 2 to 3 days at 25 to 30°C.
    • Indonesian SPO: tie fruit to a branch about a month before maturity, cut at 80 to 85% maturity about 1.5 cm from the branch, and lower fruit on rope.
    • In a Thai 'Monthong' study, fruit cut at 120 days after anthesis ripened close to tree-ripe quality; fruit cut at 110 days was poorer.
    Regions
    Malaysia · Thailand · Indonesia
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Durian guide

Pineapple · Nanas

Full pineapple guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest & ratoon

    Harvest by eye colour and cut the stalk cleanly

    Pick when the base turns yellow and the eyes flatten. Cut rather than break the stalk, and handle fruit gently.

    Technical detail
    • BPTP Riau: harvest in the morning with a sharp knife; a 0 to 7 colour index guides use, with 3 to 6 suited to canning or local fresh sale.
    • Guam: for market, pick when the lower half to two thirds is yellow.
    • Guam: the first ratoon crop comes 12 to 14 months after the plant crop. The CIFOR peat guide keeps at most 2 suckers per clump.
    Regions
    Indonesia (Riau) · Pacific
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Pineapple guide

Citrus · Jeruk

Full citrus guide
    • Core practice
    • Harvest
    • Stage: Harvest

    Thin fruit, then pick by colour and sweetness

    Thinning gives each fruit enough leaves. Harvest when sweetness and colour are right, in dry weather, cutting the stalk.

    Technical detail
    • PTKJS: at marble size leave 2 to 3 fruits per cluster (about 25 to 50 leaves per fruit); harvest about 8 months after flowering at 10 °Brix or more and about 50% yellow peel, using shears and a ladder.
    • Indonesian guide (1993): pick in the morning after dew dries, cutting stalks 1 to 2 cm from the fruit. Early picking gives sour fruit; late picking gives spongy fruit.
    Regions
    Indonesia
    Confidence
    High confidence: several institutional sources agree
    Sources
    Crop
    Citrus guide
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