Red Date Harvest Season: Key Points for Picking, Drying and Jujube Orchard Management
It is red date harvest season once again. Right now, many red date-producing areas are entering the peak of harvesting one after another, with bright red fruits hanging all over the branches in the jujube orchards. In some red date-producing areas, Hakka villages also take the opportunity to organize picking experiences and rural mini-trips, attracting tourists to have fun while buying. For jujube growers, a bumper harvest is certainly cause for joy, but whether harvesting and post-harvest handling are done well directly determines what price this season's red dates will fetch.
Judge ripeness to decide when to pick
The ripening of red dates generally goes through several stages: white ripeness, crisp ripeness and full ripeness, and the picking time differs depending on the intended use. Those planning to sell as fresh jujubes for the fast-moving market mostly pick at the crisp-ripe stage, when the skin turns red and the flesh is crisp and sweet, and shipping tolerance is still acceptable. Those preparing to sun-dry or oven-dry must wait until the full-ripe stage, when the fruit is fully colored and starts to feel soft; at this point dry matter and sugar accumulation are at their highest, giving a high drying yield and good quality. Before harvesting, check the weather forecast more often, and try to avoid working in rainy weather. Too much rain easily causes fruit cracking and rotting, and the harvested jujubes do not keep well either.
Both picking and drying call for careful work
Fresh-eating red dates have thin skins, so when picking it is best to pick them one by one by hand, gently snapping them off together with the fruit stalk, to avoid pulling the skin and causing hidden bruises. Do not be greedy when filling baskets; if piled too thickly, the fruit at the bottom is easily crushed. For jujubes intended for drying, besides manual picking, some producing areas also use chemical defoliation and fruit-drop methods after full ripeness, shaking or vibrating the dates down and then gathering and picking them up, saving labor and time. The types of chemicals and the concentrations used vary from place to place, so be sure to follow the product instructions and use them under the guidance of local agricultural technicians; do not mix them arbitrarily yourself.
Harvested red dates should be spread out as soon as possible to release heat; do not leave them sealed in bags for a long time. Fresh jujubes should be graded, pre-cooled and brought to market as soon as possible; those for drying can be either naturally sun-dried or dried in a drying room. For sun-drying, spread them thin and turn them frequently, and switch to drying promptly when cloudy or rainy weather comes to prevent mold; for oven-drying, control the temperature well, preheating at low temperature first and then raising it gradually. Drying too hastily easily leads to problems such as dry outside and wet inside, or scorched shells. After drying, once the moisture content of the red dates has dropped, store them in a dry, ventilated place, and pay attention to moisture-proofing and insect-proofing in daily care.
Do not neglect post-harvest jujube orchard management
Many jujube growers feel that once the dates are picked, the year's work is over, but in fact post-harvest management directly affects next year's yield. After harvesting red dates, the tree body is heavily depleted, so a base fertilizer application should be made in good time to help restore tree vigor and accumulate nutrients for overwintering; at the same time, clean up fallen fruit, fallen leaves and diseased branches in the orchard to reduce sources of pests and diseases for the coming year; then, combined with winter pruning, thin out overly dense branches and diseased or pest-infested branches. Once the tree shape is sorted out, ventilation and light penetration will be better next year.
As for the Hakka village mini-trips during the harvest season, for producing areas this is also a way to increase income. Before tourists enter the orchard to pick, it is best to contact the orchard in advance to confirm opening hours and varieties, and to follow the farmers' arrangements when picking; do not climb the trees, pull down branches or break branches carelessly. Jujube growers, for their part, can link together picking experiences, processing demonstrations and farmhouse meals to maximize the benefits of a season of red dates.