Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Harvesting
- Plants show distinct sings of drying - Plant leaves turns light yellow. - Only few top leaves may be green. - About 75% HK is almost completely dry and turn to straw/brown colour.
Dry husks
Milk layer
Black layer
Physiological maturity
This generally coincides with the maximum accumulation of dry matter At Physiological Maturity grains develop to complete functional maturity and express maximum quality potential
As fodder
Premature harvesting of maize reduces the yield. Delay in harvesting expose seeds rainfall, diseases and insects, bird damage, and theft. Fully mature grain will result in maximum yield, improved appearance of grain and greater resistance to mechanical injury.
Husking
Dehusking
Sorting/Selection
Methods of Drying
Conventional method (1) Sun dryingIt is not expensive
De-husked ears or shelled grain are dried by spreading them evenly & thinly on concrete floor or mats, plastic or canvass. Takes about 2 to 3 sunny days to dry, it depends on initial MC and weather condition. MC of de-husked ears should be down to about 18-20% for shelling, while shelled grains about 12% for storage.
DRYING
SHELLING
Shelling of ears can be done in various ways after drying the ears down to about 18-20% MC, to minimize mechanical damage. Several types of manually operated corn sheller, improved hand corn sheller can also be used. Power driven BARI corn sheller - for commercial use.
Shelling
CLEANING AND DRYING OF SHELLED GRAINS Shelled grains need proper drying prior to market/store After shelling and drying, the grains should be cleaned. Before storing, the dried grains need for cooling about 8-10 hrs.
STORING
The aim of storing is to keep the grain in good quality. Before storing proper drying of grain (12% MC). Grain should be stored in a dry, cool place. Quality will degrade in the storage if high MC and mechanical damaged grains are stored. High moisture will cause Excessive mold growth and pest attack Farmer level grain storage jute bags, drum, polyethelene in jute bags
Reception
Drying
Cleaning
Temporary Storage
Storage
Marketing
As human food