What it means
درو (derow) is the Persian word for harvest or reaping, specifically the action of cutting down grain crops by hand or machine. It comes from an Old Iranian root and has been part of the Persian farming vocabulary for centuries. A closely related verb is درو کردن (derow kardan), meaning to harvest or to reap. The noun refers both to the act itself and to the season when it takes place. A practical contrast: درو is the cutting of crops at harvest time, while برداشت (bardâsht) is the broader act of gathering and collecting produce, including fruits and vegetables.
How to use it
- فصل درو رسیده. (Fasl-e derow resside.) “Harvest season has arrived.”
- کشاورزها داشتند گندم درو میکردند. (Keshâvarzâ dâshtan gandom derow mikardan.) “The farmers were harvesting the wheat.”
- درو با داس خیلی سخته. (Derow bâ dâs kheyli sakhte.) “Reaping with a sickle is very hard work.”
- بعد از درو، خرمنکوبی شروع میشه. (Ba’d az derow, kharmankoubi shoru mishe.) “After the harvest, threshing begins.”
Cultural note
For centuries, درو in Iran was done by hand using a داس (dâs, sickle), with entire villages working together in the fields during the hot summer months. The harvest season held deep communal significance, and many regional folk songs and poems celebrate the درو. In modern Iranian agriculture, mechanized combines have largely replaced hand reaping, but the word remains the standard term across all registers.