Harvesters are under surveillance

The teams of the Erzincan Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry are continuing their strict inspections to minimize the grain loss rate that may arise during the ongoing cereal harvest.

Grain loss during the cereal harvest represents a significant loss for the national economy. The teams of the Plant Production and Plant Health Department of the Erzincan Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry are continuing their strict inspections to minimize the grain loss rate that may arise during the ongoing cereal harvest in Erzincan. From time to time, the Erzincan Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, Murat Şahin, participates in the inspections. The teams conducting the inspections monitor the harvesters while they are working in the fields. The teams check many aspects from the operator’s license of the person operating the harvester to the grain loss, and they are working to keep the grain loss at a minimum level in accordance with the General Order of the Governorship and the orders of the Ministry.

Murat Şahin, the Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry in Erzincan, stated that they have established special teams to control and inspect the harvests made with harvesters within the Plant Production and Plant Health Department, and that they will continue to monitor grain loss measurements throughout the season. In his statement, Provincial Director Murat Şahin mentioned that there are many different reasons for the grain loss in the cereal harvest, which is worked on every year by agricultural directorates to prevent. He noted that factors such as the roughness of the land, the haste of harvester drivers to earn more, harvesting before the cereal has matured, and a high amount of weeds are effective in increasing the loss. Şahin emphasized that the use of old model harvesters is among the most important causes of grain loss.

He expressed that harvesting with 30-year-old harvesters, without considering the land structure, leads to serious losses in the economy, saying, “Even if the parts of these old machines that break down during cutting or threshing are replaced, they do not fit together. They cannot separate the grain from its husk, and the labor put forth in the field is wasted with old machines.”

Provincial Director Murat Şahin explained that new model harvesters display the rates of grain loss on their screens and can reduce the loss to around 1%. He said, “Farmers should prefer new model harvesters as much as possible and definitely choose drivers who have licenses and operator certificates.”

He also highlighted the importance of starting the harvest after the cereal ears have dried to prevent yield loss, stressing that the moisture content in the ears should be below 20% during harvester harvesting. Şahin pointed out that harvestable farmland in higher areas should be harvested later than dry areas, saying, “Grains separate more difficultly in moist ears, while in excessively dry ones, the grains easily fall off, leading to loss. Farmers need to carefully choose the appropriate period for harvesting by considering the moisture content.”

Provincial Director Şahin also explained that insufficient irrigation of the field or short ear lengths can increase losses during harvester harvesting. He added that after harvesting, products with high moisture content should not be stored without drying to prevent spoilage.