"Digitaria exilis" can be harvested in a number of ways. Some farmers uproot them to get the seeds, but other methods may be more effective. Sickles are used to cut the part of the plant containing the seeds rather than destroying the whole plant. Threshing varies from region to region. Methods include beating the straw to extract the grain, or trampling the straw to extract the seeds. Afterwards the grains have to be dried, usually over the period of a few days. The crop has very small seeds surrounded by hard kernels, so its grains are ground into a fine powder before being used in cooking.