A coa de jima or coa (“hoe for harvesting”, “hoe”) is a specialized tool for harvesting agaves. It is a long, machete-like round-ended knife on a long wooden handle used by a jimador to cut the leaves off an agave being harvested and to cut the agave from its roots.Click to see full answer. Also asked, how is agave harvested?When ready for harvesting, the carbohydrate-rich piña is cut from its stalk. Then the 200 or more 6-7 foot spiky and thorn-covered leaves (pencas) that stand out from the agave are cut away from the heart by a jimador or harvester (from the Nahuatl word jima, or harvest), using a sharp, long-handled tool called a coa. what plant is tequila made out of? Agave tequilana Correspondingly, what is the agave plant used for? Common uses Juice from the core of the plant is used to produce agave nectar – a sweetener often used in food and drinks as a substitute for sugar or honey. Fibres can be extracted from the leaves of this plant and used for rope, matting and coarse cloth.What part of the agave plant is used for tequila?The harvester, or “Jimador” removes the agave leaves with a sharp curved tool called a Coa. He trims the 200 plus leaves that protect the heart or piña of the agave until the whole heart is extracted from the ground. Only the heart, or “piña,” of the agave plant is used to make tequila.