Farmers goals are to achieve a good yield at the end of the season. There are practices that are followed to ensure that a farmer‘s toil goes not to waste.
Noting down the planting date is important because each variety has its own maturity period. This helps the farmer calculate when the crop will be ready for harvest. In soy bean, some varieties are early maturing and will take between 85 to 95 days while to mature while others are late maturing and will take 115 o 125 days. Cow pea is generally an early maturing crop and reaches maturity between 65 to 70 days. Make necessary preparations for harvesting when harvesting time is getting close.
Maturity indices
When soybean and cow pea are mature, the leaves turn yellow and fall off the plans. The pods change from green to yellow when the plants are approaching maturity and when mature, they change from yellow to grey or brown depending on the variety.
Mature pods should feel dry and you can also observe a sample of seeds to see if your seeds are ready for harvest. For soybean, The seed colour changes from green to light yellow while for cow pea, the colour depends on the variety.
Harvesting grains
In order to have high quality grain, harvest when the maturity indicators become obvious. Harvesting of shattering varieties should not be delayed.
Harvesting can be done with a sharp cutlass or sickle by cutting the plants at soil level or uprooted and put at different points in the field preferably on a tarpaulin.
