When Sweet Orange fruits are ready for harvest?
- Sweet Orange fruit takes 8 – 9 months to harvest from full bloom.
How to judge maturity of the fruits to be harvested?
- Sweet Orange being a non- climacteric fruit, there is no improvement in taste and flavor after harvesting.
- Fruits should be harvested when they are ripe, attain full size with a tinge of yellowness on it. These fruits will be juicy & sweet to taste.
- Usually, Sweet Orange is harvested when the fruit turns green to pale- yellow. In cool climates, especially in North India fruit develops good color/yellow – orange color.
Materials required for harvesting
- Plastic crates
- Secateurs
Note: Clean Crates to be used should be work friendly so that when it gets loaded with fruits one should be able to lift it with ease.
Crates should be clean and ergonomically designed, so that it is easy in handling during loading and unloading fruit.
When to harvest Sweet Orange Fruits?
Harvesting of fruits should be done during early morning or late evening. Since, the temperature is minimum during this period of a day which helps to reduce the field heat enhancing the post-harvest life.
Fruits should be harvested in the early morning or late evening when temperatures are lower. This helps to reduce field heat, thereby enhancing the post-harvest shelf life.
How to harvest the fruits?
At first one should audit the fruit by simply observing its colour. The fruits which fulfill the criteria of maturity should only be picked.
First, the fruit should be inspected by observing its color. Only fruits that meet the maturity criteria should be picked.
| Always seek help of any cutters or scissors while harvesting the fruit. Always use cutters or scissors when harvesting fruit to ensure proper handling. |  |
 |
Things to remember while harvesting Sweet Orange Fruits:-
After harvest one should not drop the fruit from height or throw in crates or baskets because it may cause bruising on the skin of the fruit which will restrict its shelf-life and open window for infections.
| Fruit drop from the height causes bruising |  |
| Keeping of fruit in crates properly after harvest |  |
Precaution: Do not fill the crates above the brim since the overloading will spill out the fruit while transportation causing injury.
Precaution: Do not fill the crates above the brim since the overloading will spill out the fruit while transportation causing injury.
Do not overfill the crates above the brim, as overloading can cause the fruit to spill during transportation, leading to damage.
