TODAY'S ACTIVITIES // Enjoying Today's Activities and Learning New Things from Real Experiences.
Good night to all my beloved hive friends ❤️
Today, I had the opportunity to help my uncle harvest oil palm fruit from his plantation. This work started in the morning, when the weather was still relatively stable and the sunlight was not yet too intense. The plantation covers an estimated area of around 5 hectares, so my uncle also had to hire five additional workers to make the work easier and faster.
Shorter trees can still be harvested using a dodos , while taller trees must be harvested using an egrek (an egrek is a very sharp, curved, hook-shaped blade, usually attached to a long pole so that it can reach the fronds and fruit bunches on taller oil palm trees).
We may be able to observe and learn how the oil palm harvesting process is carried out, but to understand the entire working process, we also need to get out into the field and try it ourselves.
For beginners, it is highly recommended to learn how to use an egrek properly before actually using it, as it can be very dangerous. We do not only cut the fruit bunches, because we also have to cut the palm fronds, and each frond has very sharp thorns.
After the fruit bunches fall to the ground, we also have to collect them one by one and stack them in one place to make weighing and transportation easier. We also need to arrange the oil palm fronds neatly so that they are not scattered everywhere.
As for myself, I have only learned how to use a dodos to harvest shorter oil palm trees, while gradually learning how to use an egrek properly and safely.
This work was finally completed in the afternoon, at exactly 5:00 pm . Take a look at the egrek placed on top of the pile of oil palm fronds; it is very dangerous.
Only after all the work was finished could we finally take a rest while enjoying a bottle of refreshing drink. My body felt extremely tired, but I also managed to gain a wealth of new knowledge and experience.
The question is, how can we tell when an oil palm fruit bunch is ripe and ready to be harvested.?
Based on my experience, fruit bunches that are ready for harvesting usually have a bright red to reddish-orange color. Usually, the workers will cut into a small part of the fruit to check the texture and color of the flesh inside. For experienced workers, this is an easy task.
As a beginner like myself, I usually need more time to observe and determine which fruit bunches are ready to be harvested. Sometimes, I also rely on a clearer sign: ripe oil palm fruit bunches usually have around 5 to 10 loose fruits (known as brondolan) that have naturally detached and fallen to the ground.
Or to be clearer, we can see it from the 4 photos above, that is the fruit that is ready to be harvested.
Life is a responsibility
Be yourself, keep learning and don't hesitate to start😉
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Thank you very much for reading my post till the end, I am here to say thank you very much
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All images are mine, I took the photos using the Infinix 10 pro cellphone and I edited the images using the Lightroom application.
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