Harvesting rice depends on many things but most importantly the maturity of the crop. The different varieties mature at different rates but most of them achieve this between 105 to 150 days after establishing the crop. It can be done in two ways and that is mechanical and manual harvesting.
Mechanical harvesting
This is not commonly used because of the pricing of the machines but for those that use them, they can help from cutting the rice, separating the grain from the stem and cleaning the rice before packaging it for transportation.
The use of the machines reduces on the labor to be used during the rice growing process.
Manual harvesting
This is the most commonly practiced in Uganda and it roughly takes about 40 to 80 hours if you harvesting per hectare. It is very labor intensive and the farmers use sickles when harvesting. The only good thing about this is that a farmer gets to collect all the plants from the farm.
The steps involved when harvesting are listed below:
The reaping process is the first step and it involves cutting the mature straw just above the ground after it drying.
The threshing process, this involves separating the grain from the rest of the straw that is cut.
Cleaning or separation step is where the farmer separates the mature grain from the immature and non-grain materials.
Hauling and drying, this is where the cut grain is packed and taken to the threshing area and it is taken for drying in the sun.
Piling and bagging is where the crop is taken for storage before being packed and transported for permanent storage before sale
