Hand picking is a separation technique that involves manually removing undesired impurities from a mixture by picking them out with the help of hands. It is a traditional method of separation and is often used since it is very simple. This method is useful only when the substance which needs to be separated is in small quantities. The substances in the hand-picking method can be separated on the basis of size, colour, shape, weight, etc. Hand picking is used for separating slightly larger sized impurities such as pieces of dirt, stones, husk from wheat, rice, pulses, etc. It can be used for those mixtures as well which differ in colour, shape or weight. Some examples of handpicking separation method include separating the mixture of chillies and lady’s finger (on the basis of size), separating black grapes from the mixture of black and green grapes, etc.

Hand picking has some advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages of hand picking are that it doesn’t need any special machinery for separation, and it takes less time when used for a small quantity. However, some disadvantages of hand picking are that it is not feasible for a large quantity of substances, and it is only possible when substances are visibly different.