We explain what the harvest is, what systems it can implement and what its ecological impact is. Also, what is the agricultural cycle.
What is the harvest?
The harvest is the moment of the agricultural cycle in which the harvest of the sown agricultural goods (fruits, seeds, grains, vegetables, among others) is carried out, once they are at their maximum point of maturity. This moment implies the end of the agricultural cycle, and consists of the separation of the valuable parts of the mother plant, for their subsequent processing and commercialization.
The word harvest comes from the Latin collecta, formed by the prefix with– (“next to”) and the verb legere (“to choose”), and it is a practice known by the humanity since Neolithic times, when the farming and the first crops were planted. For most of human history harvesting was done manually, or with the help of hand tools, whereas today it is generally a mechanized process, often using machines called “harvesters”.
In the different ancient cultures, the harvest was a time of joy and gratitude, in which the gods who provided sustenance were worshiped. For example, the ancient Romans celebrated ludi cereals or "cereal games", parties in honor of Ceres, equivalent to the Greek goddess Demeter. Thus, the action of reaping, understood as the act of collecting or harvesting what is good, leaving behind what is bad or useless, is also used in the popular imagination as a metaphor for receiving what one himself propitiated: “you will reap what you have sown”.
The ways of harvesting and the ideal time for harvesting and planting normally differ according to the harvested product. In fact, different fruits or vegetables are harvested taking into account the shelf life they have after reaching maturity, depending on the type of product:
- Climacteric fruits: These are those that can ripen after being harvested (and therefore are harvested while still green, to prevent them from deteriorating during transportation), such as the tomato.
- Non-climacteric fruits: Those that can only ripen on the plant, such as peppers or bell peppers.
Crops are not always the same, and can be good (abundant) or bad (poor), depending on the weather, planting methods, and the presence of pests and parasites. The development of agriculture has tried, to a large extent, to control these three elements as much as possible, to guarantee the correct growth of plants and the preservation of their fruits. Fertilizers are used for this. pesticides and various techniques of human intervention in the crop, such as artificial selection or even genetic engineering.
The agricultural cycle
Is named cycle agricultural to the set of stages that make up the agricultural activity and that are repeated annually in regular periods. This cycle or circuit is more or less the same for all types of crops, and includes the following fundamental stages:
- The preparation of I usually. Once you know what foods are to be grown, farmers must prepare the soil to ensure that it contains the supplies necessary for the growth of floors. This may involve the use of manures and fertilizers, or the plowing of the soil to create furrows in which to deposit the seeds and that allow proper irrigation.
- Planting.Sowing consists of the introduction of seeds, shoots or plants in the prepared soil. This is usually done in the spring or the summer, always depending on the type of crop. Planting is done according to various techniques, many of which take into account soil protection and the maximum use of resources.
- The monitoring. After sowing, the plants germinate and grow at a variable rate, and require a series of care and attention, such as the proper amount of irrigation, the fight against pests, among others. If all goes well, the plants grow and bear fruit, which will mature over time until they are ready for harvest.
- Harvest. The final stage of the circuit is the collection of mature agricultural products, whether they are fruits, cereals or seeds, and their processing or handling to store them and later drive them to their destination, which may be direct trade with the consumer, or some industry high school that uses them as raw material.
harvesting systems
The manual harvesting system is cheaper and more ecological, but less frequent because it is not very efficient.
The harvests are carried out according to two different systems: the traditional or manual method, and the modern or mechanized method. The application of one or the other depends on multiple factors, such as the available resources or the type of crop to be harvested.
- The manual system. The manual harvesting method is the oldest known and the one that has been used the most throughout history. Through this process, the farmer or his workers pick up agricultural goods directly from the ground or plants with their hands and deposit them in baskets or wheelbarrows, and then transport them to other spaces where they undergo secondary processes, such as drying, roasting or fermentation. It is an economical and ecological method, but slow and ineffective.
- The mechanized system. The mechanized method is one that uses technologies modern, that is, machines to process the crop and separate the agricultural goods from the rest of the plant. These technologies can consist of large harvesting machines, as in the case of cereals, or mechanical tools that facilitate the work of harvesters, allowing a faster and more profitable harvest, although often causing ecological damage and having an initial cost. considerable.
Ecological impact of crops
Agriculture, despite being an ancestral economic activity, is not exempt from having a ecological impact, that is, to cause damage to the ecosystem. These ecological damages can be summarized in:
- Deforestation and destruction of ecosystems to enlarge the cultivation platform, especially in extensive agriculture that requires a large area to plant. This area is obtained by cutting down and burning forests and other environments biological Diversity, to plant plants of the same type instead.
- The impoverishment of soils, especially in monocultures, that is, in cases where the same plant is planted over and over again, which deprives the soil of its nutrients. This can be avoided through crop rotation.
- The Soil contamination Y waters, through the use of pesticides and agrochemicals to combat fungi, bacteria and insects, which destroy even the living beings non-hazardous for crops, and also have a residual effect on groundwater or rivers, lakes and seas, due to runoff of rainwater.
- The damage of agricultural machines on the soil, either due to their weight or due to the fuels and lubricants they release.