Influences on the performance of the stripper rotor in rice

Rice is the most important food crop in many countries of Asia. In the Philippines, it is the staple food for more than 80% of the people while 70% of our population depend on rice farming and marketing for livelihood. However, despite the importance of rice in the lives of the Filipinos, production has not been able to consistently meet their needs. The ever-growing population continues to exert tremendous pressure on the rice farmers to produce more. The principle of stripping, that is, collecting the grains without harvesting the straw, presents a bright prospect in mechanical harvesting technology. A kinematic analysis of the stripper rotor during operation was made with a newly designed stripper test rig.Reis ist die wichtigste Getreideart in vielen Ländern Asiens. Auf den Philippinen ist Reis das Grundnahrungsmittel für über 80% der Menschen. Für 70% der Bevölkerung hängt der Lebensunterhalt direkt von Reis ab. Bemühungen zur Reduzierung der Verluste müssen bei der Ernte beginnen. Die Mechanisierung der Ernte ist der einzige Weg, die Ernteverluste zu verringern. Die Kinematik des Strippers wurde mit einem neu entwickelten Laborversuchsstand untersucht

Best practices for paddy drying: case studies in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, and Myanmar

Our study made a comparative analysis of the different drying practices used in Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Myanmar. Quantification of energy efficiency, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and cost-benefits generated the implications for selecting the optimal drying practice corresponding to various techno-economic indicators, environments, scales of operations, and market demands. Using a reversible airflow flatbed dryer with a capacity of 20 tons of paddy per batch was found to be the best option in terms of cost-benefit, labor operation, and energy efficiency. On the other hand, a recirculating columnar dryer requires 15% higher energy consumption but only needs 20–50% of the floor area; while a solar bubble dryer still needs optimization in terms of reduced investment cost and labor requirement. A two-stage drying system including a fluidized-bed and ten recirculating columnar dryers is an optimal option with the lowest drying cost and labor use when aiming at an industrial capacity of greater than 200 t/day. Nevertheless, the energy consumption and GHG emission of the solar bubble dryer are lower by more than 50% than that of other practices. In addition to the comparative analysis of these techno-economic factors, this research also identified the trajectories of developing paddy drying technologies that are aligned with different postharvest systems identified as subsistence farming for own consumption, surplus farming for local markets, and surplus farming for premium and export markets. The study recommends paddy drying strategies in Southeast Asian countries that could be applied in other rice-production regions as well. Abbreviation: GHG: greenhouse ga