HARVESTING

Fruits ripen in about 5-6 months from the time of flowering. Mature fruits should be immediately removed from the plants as delay in harvesting leads to fruit cracking. Fruits harvested at a premature stage have poor keeping quality and are prone to damage during handling and transport. The fruits are harvested when outer rind becomes yellowish and the fruit when tapped produces a metallic sound. The round fruits become flattened from all the sides and basal beak shaped portion shrinks at the time of maturity.

Fruits are harvested with the help of secateurs by retaining 1 cm stalk with the fruit. All the fruits should be harvested in 2-3 pickings within a span of one month. The harvested fruits are cured for a week in shade. This will make the skin more hard and will stand better in transportation.

Yield

The plant starts bearing from the 4th year onwards. A well-developed 8-10 year old tree yields 18-20 t/ha. The yield declines gradually after the trees attained 25-30 years of age.