When are Bael fruits ready for harvest?
Bael fruits are ready for harvest within 10 – 11 months from flowering.
How to judge the maturity of the fruit harvested?
Maturity can be judged by the change in skull colour from deep green to yellowish green or pale green. The leaves in the plant defoliates in harvesting season.
Materials required for harvesting
- Plastic crates
- Secateurs
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Note: Crates to be used should be work-friendly.
When to harvest fruit?
- Bael fruits are ready for harvest during April-May when the fruit shell changes its colour from deep green to yellowish or pale green.
- It should be picked during the early morning or late evening. Since the temperature is low during this period it helps to use manpower efficiently.
How to harvest the fruits?
- Use secateurs while harvesting the fruit.
- The fruit should be individually handpicked to avoid damage.
- The stalk end of the fruit is prone to infection, hence harvesting along with a portion of stalk (approximately 5 cm) is a desirable practice.
The stalk gets automatically detached when the fruit is ripe, indicating completion of ripening
Things to remember while harvesting Bael fruits: –
After harvest, keep the fruits in the crates smoothly.
The fruit should not be dropped to avoid damage.
In field transportation
Arrange smooth transportation of fruits in disinfected crates to avoid damage.
Source – Devendra Pandey, A.K. Misra, Neelima Garg, P.K. Shukla, Gundappa,
S.K. Shukla and S. Rajan (2020). Bael Cultivation.
