Correct harvest date
Picking on the correct harvest date is crucial in ensuring that the quality of apples reaching the consumers is optimal and that consignments meet the quality criteria that are set by multiple retailers and the wholesale market.
For each variety the time of fruit maturation on the tree varies from orchard to orchard and from season to season. Consequently decisions on harvesting cannot be made based on an arbitrary calendar date.
Growers need to equip themselves with a penetrometer to test the firmness of the fruit and a quantity of a solution containing 1% iodine and 4% potassium iodide in order to perform starch iodine tests.
Testing for firmness and presence of starch in the weeks prior to the expected harvest date is essential in allowing the grower to draw up a harvesting schedule and make full use of a harvesting ‘window’. This will help to ensure that the fruit from each orchard is at the correct stage of maturity to enable the grower to implement his or her marketing plans.
Growers will need to be aware of information received from the Quality Fruit Group maturity programme and of long-range predictions issued earlier in the growing season. But the final decision on when to harvest must be based on maturity measurements made on fruit from each orchard prior to picking.
It is important that all quality characteristics of the fruit in each orchard are considered in order to achieve maximum profitability. The fruit must be sufficiently large and well coloured to satisfy market demands.
However, the consequences of delayed harvest to achieve higher grade-out of Class 1 fruit must be realised fully and the fruit stored for an appropriate period under suitable storage conditions.
Picking date criteria