Harvesting is the operation or process of gathering useful parts or edible parts of a plant that reaches its maturity. It is one of the happiest moments for all farmers. Whether your farm is small or big, the feeling when you harvest what you have sown is different. It can't be explained. In today's blog, I would like to share how farmers in our locality harvested sugarcane.
Harvesting sugarcane is the oldest occupation of almost all of my neighbors here in my hometown. And it is not an easy job. If you are the laborer you will exert a lot of effort, expose yourselves to the sun's heat and lift or carry heavy loads of sugarcane when the harvested plants are not ready for transport. I salute all tapasero because if not with them farmers will not succeed in their farming journey. Without farm workers, they may have difficulty cultivating their fields too. So for me, we should be thankful for these people.
Sugarcane is a plant belonging to the grass family. It grows about 2 to 6 meters high if it's healthy and well-grown. It has a jointed stem, fibrous and juicy. The juicy pulp is the primary source of sugar or sucrose. This is done by squizzing its juicy palp. Therefore it is the number one source of sugar production. Many food products used sugar from sugarcane.
When I was still a child I used to sip the juice of sugarcane, especially during harvest time since our home is surrounded by sugarcane plantations.That's why harvesting sugarcane is the number one livelihood in our locality, Tapasero in Cebuano terms.
How to Harvest
When sugarcane reaches its maturity stage planters tend to harvest its sugarcane. This is done by cutting the stem of sugarcane using a sharp bolo or padding in Cebuano terms. The Tapasero will bind their harvested sugarcane and arrange or file the harvested sugarcane in a truck and transport these to the milling center for processing of sugar. Before, we have our own milling company in our locality. But now it was closed since many of the sugar planters in our locality and the nearby town did not plant sugarcane anymore. So sugarcane planters will now be delivered their products to Negros.
The Field After Harvesting
After harvesting sugarcane the field was now barren until newly grown sugar plants will sprout. Some farmers burn the field and cleared the land and replant it with new ones. But some also will allow the newly sprouted sugar plant to develop and grow until its harvest time.
That's all for this blog. Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog.