Depending on the variety, the habitat, and the growing conditions, a healthy artichoke will produce 5–10 flowerheads or more, each with 3-5 buds. Some growers thin their plants to reduce the number of smaller artichokes while increasing the size of the remaining ones. For the same purpose and to hasten maturation, other farmers use growth regulators.
A mature crop with years of experience might produce 8 to 20 tons per hectare, 50,000 to 180,000 artichoke flower heads, or roughly 1360 cartons per hectare as a good output (550 cartons per acre). More specifically, a yield of 4,000–5,000 kg per hectare (3,567–4,460 lb/acre) is typical during the second year of cultivation. We have the highest yields of 7,000–20,000 kg per hectare (6,245–17,843 lb/acre) in the third and fourth years of cultivation. Normal yields provide 6,000-9,000 kg per hectare (5,355-8,030 lb/acre) starting in the fifth and sixth year. Remember that these are only some typical yields that have been published; the real yield of your field may vary greatly, depending on the ᴍᴇᴛʜods of production, the local environment, the farmer’s experience, etc.
The best time to harvest artichokes depends on a number of factors, including climate, soil type, farmed variety, and growth ᴍᴇᴛʜods. When the buds are the appropriate commercial size for that variety, artichokes can be harvested. The head is still soft and compact at that point, but the lower bracts are starting to separate.
The bracts will open, become hard (woody), bitter, and the head quality will decline dramatically if the buds are not harvested quickly after reaching this stage. Not every head develops at the same rate. In actuality, an artichoke plant may have fruits at various stages of maturity on it. In areas with milder winters, the perennial crop may provide 30 to 40 harvests annually, with the best harvest occurring in April.
The harvesting season is shorter and more focused for artichokes grown as annuals. Every five to ten days during the peak of production, the farmer can harvest by hand with scissors or knives. They combined the heads with a stem that was 7.5–20 cm (3–7,9 in) long. In Globe Artichoke, harvesting processes can cost as much as 40% of the overall cost of production.
The majority of the time, the edible heads are gathered by hand because machine harvesting is hampered by an extended harvest maturity. To do the process, workers must pass through the area numerous times. As they pass through the rows, the pickers clip the mature heads and put them in sacks that are dragged across the field.
In order to prepare the plant for the period of dorᴍᴀɴcy and promote the growth of side shoots, growers trim the upper portion of the plant, leaving only one or two leaves. The crop wastes are also valuable commercially since they are used to make biofuel and are sold as livestock feed. The ideal time to gather root crowns for upcoming cultivation is during dorᴍᴀɴcy. ᴍᴀɴy growers “wake them up” by irrigation if the dorᴍᴀɴt phase lasts longer than two months. It is advisable to heavily cover the plants in frost-prone areas. To combat ɪʟʟɴᴇsses and stop soil erosion, some farmers choose to rotate the crop.
Let’s see Amazing Agriculture Technology : Artichoke Cultivation – Artichokes Harvest and Processing in Factory in the amazing video below.
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Video resource: Noal Farm
