Finger millet — 7Harvest, storage & transport

• Harvest in two stages

  Ragi does not mature uniformly, so harvest in two stages. First harvest: when the earhead on the main shoot and 50% of the earheads have turned brown, cut all brown earheads. Second harvest: 7 days later, cut all the earheads including green ones; heap them in the shade for one day without drying so the grains cure. Then dry, thresh, winnow and store in gunny bags.

  Pending expert review

  Source

  Crop Production Guide – Agriculture 2020 (Directorate of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Ragi – Harvesting, pp. 96–97

  Region

  Tamil Nadu

  Last updated

  2026-11-04

• Threshing, drying and storage

  Dry the earheads until seed moisture is 15%, then thresh with a bamboo stick or a machine. Pre-clean the seed before sun-drying, and dry to 12% moisture before grading. For grain, dry to 10% moisture before storage. For seed, mix 1 kg of activated kaolin per 100 kg and pack in gunny or polythene-lined gunny bags.

  Pending expert review

  Source

  Crop Production Guide – Agriculture 2020 (Directorate of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Ragi – Threshing, cleaning & storage, p. 97

  Region

  Tamil Nadu

  Last updated

  2026-11-04