Performance Evaluation of a Ricemill Developed in NCRI

Abstract

Performance of a rice mill developed in National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi was evaluated to determine the behavior of different grain (paddy) types at different feed rates and moisture contents. Three levels of feed rate (0.088, 0.033 and 0.014kg/s) and three levels of moisture content (15-16, 12-13 and 10-11%) were considered for the test. Percentages milling recovery, broken rice and machine capacity were measured as well as the examination of whiteness of rice in milling long, medium and short grain paddy varieties of faro 44, Babanyagi and Ndawodzufangi respectively. The effectiveness of the milling machine depends on the paddy varieties and size, paddy condition and operator’s skill among other factors.. It was concluded that as the feed rate decreased, percentage broken rice as well as whiteness of rice increased. The capacity of the machine decreased with decreasing feed rate.