HARVESTING of the wheat generally starts after April 15. Unexpected erratic rains and heavy winds close to the period of harvesting, cause huge losses to the crop affecting its quality and yield and hence the economic returns.

The big loss to the crop at the harvest and post-harvest stages demands maximum care which can be accomplished by creating awareness among farmers and by providing them with guidelines to avert such losses. Wheat is harvested either manually or mechanically with combine harvester. Every method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Farmers prefer manual harvesting to get wheat straw, an important livestock feed.

There are various drawbacks of manual harvesting with high probability of grain loss, more time consumption, intensive labour and weather impact. There is a possibility of damage to wheat bundles by rain, consequently affecting the seed quality.

Thresher is a useful tool for harvesting, but improperly functioning thresher causes the seeds to be mixed with straw and breaks the grain. Depending on soil type and moisture, the whole plant may get uprooted with soil particles stuck to roots during manual harvesting. During threshing, the soil gets mixed with the grain causing impurity, spreading soil borne diseases and weed.

Such seed stock also fetches low price in the market. Therefore, harvesting should be started when the soil is dry. Time of harvest also depends on moisture status of the plant. Farmers usually start threshing after the whole area has been manually harvested. It causes over drying of grain harvested earlier. The farmers should start threshing earlier along with harvesting. It will not only avert chances of over drying of seeds but also need less time for threshing, reducing the risk of damage by rain.

Furthermore, the harvested crop should not be stocked at one point in the field because spike losses are increased. Manual harvesting, threshing and storage of grain usually takes more time. Wind direction and speed are important during harvest and post-harvest handling. Thresher has to be placed at various places as wind direction may change during different times of the day. Wind causes the wheat straw to get mixed with seed stock reducing its quality.

After manual harvesting, small bundles should be made so that these can be easily transferred for threshing to minimise damage by rain. Moreover, small bundles also take less time to dry. If it starts raining when bundles are yet to be thrashed, then the sides of the bundles should be rotated occasionally.

High soil moisture may cause the grain to germinate. Therefore, provision of drainage is of great importance. The bundles should be completely dried before threshing otherwise the machine may not function properly and the grain may get damaged. Impure and broken seeds result in poor germination and crop stand leading to losses in yield.

Owing to various disadvantages of manual harvesting, the use of combine harvester is preferable as it reduces seed losses and takes minimum time. The limitations of the combine harvester are that the straw is lost; it is expensive with higher maintenance charges. Fuel cost during the operation is approximately equal to the cost of grain saved from loss. Therefore use of combine harvester and wheat straw chopper is cost effective when compared with manual harvesting.

The crop harvested by thresher ensures seed quality and the crop fetches higher price in the market. It also helps manage crop residues and improves structure and fertility status of the soil.

Proper seed moisture at the time of harvest is helpful in safe storage of the produce. The grain should be properly dried after harvesting followed by proper storage at suitable temperature, relative humidity and seed moisture content. Farmers usually have no appropriate storage facilities. They should be educated about how to store their produce on scientific basis for future use keeping in view their socio-economic condition. After harvesting, straw heap should be covered completely so that potent damages of rainfall or thunderstorm can be avoided.

The harvest and post-harvest losses, to a great extent, can be reduced by proper management and planning at the government level. Combine harvester should be locally prepared and made available to farmers at subsidised rates.

The Punjab government, currently working on green tractor scheme, should include combine harvester in their programme. Good infrastructure should be developed in distant rural areas where farmers have no idea about the recent agricultural technologies. Supply of combine harvester and wheat straw chopper should be ensured to common farmer on rental basis as well.

Extension service can be very handy in this context. Middleman is financially exploiting farmers through loans and deals. He provides inputs (seed, fertiliser, insecticides, weedicides etc.) at higher prices and buys output at prices below the price set by the government.

Monopoly of the middle man can be reduced by establishing purchase centres at union council level. Only big landholders have easy access to packing bags. Arrangements should be made for availability of packing bags to common farmers at reasonable rates.

PASSCO should be directly involved in procuring wheat from farmers. Meteorology department should have close interaction with agriculture extension wing and farmers should remain up-to-date about expected weather conditions in coming days.

Agriculture officers should be appointed at union council level who can work more efficiently in smaller target areas to create awareness among farmers about avoiding harvest and post-harvest losses.

The government should set buying targets more than expected trade surplus so that additional wheat if comes, can be purchased. The government should start purchase of wheat prior to April 15 in Sindh and Rajan pur district of Punjab.

If these steps are taken, several thousand tons of extra grain can be added to the produce and farmers encouraged to investing more in wheat crop to help meet the country`s food requirements.