MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NONG LAM UNIVERSITY
WORKSHOP
NEED AND METHODS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND
REDUCE RICE LOSSES DURING RICE PRODUCTION IN
MEKONG RIVER DELTA
CAN THO CITY, JUNE 2006
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
The objectives of workshop
Introduction of CARD-06/VIE05 Project
(Dr Truong Vinh)
Summary
Description of project
PART 1. Common discussion on need and methods to improve quality and reduce losses
in rice production in Mekong River Delta (MRD)
Need and methods to improve quality and reduce losses in rice production in MRD
Dr Hoang Bac Quoc
Need and methods to improve quality and reduce losses in rice production in Soc Trang
Province
Tran Thi Phung Nga
Need and methods to improve quality and reduce losses in rice production in Tien Giang
Province
Tran Minh Tuan
The fact and solutions of mechanization of harvest and post-harvest methods in MRD
MPhil Tong Huu Thuan
PART 2. Presentation of techniques: harvesters, driers, and millers
Harvesters – from the view of manufacturers
Nguyen Dinh Ba
The development in rice processing industry in Mekong River Delta
Bui Phong Luu and Nguyen The Ha
Harvesting by combined harvester in Soc Trang Province
Duong Minh Hoang
Paddy harvesting mechanization of Soc Trang Province
Tran Thi Phung Nga
Drying Engineering in Mekong River Delta in the last and the next 15 years
Dr Phan Hieu Hien
Milling activities in Tien Giang Province
Tran Minh Tuan
The fact and solutions of mechanization in paddy harvesting in Ben Tre Province
Ben Tre Extension Center
The fact and solutions of mechanization in post harvesting in Hau Giang Province.........
Hau Giang Extension Center
OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOP
Project “Investigation of rice kernel and its control in the field and during post harvest
processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam” is a part of Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural
Development Program (CARD) between Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD) and Australian Agency of International Development (AusAID). The
aim of this project is to help small Vietnamese household farmers to improve the rice quality
and price in order to raise their income level. The project will be implemented through some
selected cooperatives. Service providers and extension workers will also benefit from this
project by improving their knowledge and widening working opportunities.
The project will conduct some investigations in relation to controlling kernel cracking both in
the field and post-harvest operations in Mekong River Delta (MRD) in the next 3-year period,
from March 2006 to March 2009. The cracking is a cumulative effect of many factors, from
harvesting (cutting, threshing), drying to milling. Experiments and investigations will be
conducted in the field in order to evaluate the kernel cracking and losses due to harvesting
methods. The experiments will be on diverse rice varieties in different seasons. Current drying
systems in MRD will be studied and experimented to assess performance and efficiency of
drying process. The results from this project will be disseminated through extension officers
from provincial extension centres.
In order to achieve those objectives, the workshop “Need and methods to improve quality and
reduce rice losses in rice production in Mekong River Delta” was organized to discuss the
current circumstances and to highlight the needs of harvest and post-harvest technology in rice
production in MRD by professional and useful contribution of representatives from provincial
Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and extension centers, as well as from
producers. The workshop will highlight advantages and disadvantages of each technology and
development trends in the future. It will also figure out the relationship between the control of
rice kernel cracking and increase in rice quality and value. Organizing the workshop before
commencement of the project will help to summarize important concerns through experiences
of previous projects. Thus, this project will concentrate on more important and realistic
problems.
Dr Truong Vinh
HoChiMinh City University of Nong Lam
Coordinator of CARD-026/VIE05 Project
SUMMARY ON THE WORKSHOP
“Need and methods to improve the quality and reduce rice losses during rice production in
Mekong River Delta (MRD) “(Can Tho city, June 2006)
The workshop consisted two main parts, i.e., the common discussion on the need and methods
to improve the quality and reduce losses in rice production in the MRD and the technical
aspects on harvesting, drying and milling. For the common discussion, the reports of MRD
Rice Research Institute (MRD-RRI) and Post-harvest handling sub-component unit in MRD
(PHSCU) were representative for the regional level, and the reports of Soc Trang and Tien
Giang were representative for the provincial level. For the technical discussion, the harvesting,
drying and milling were prepared by Vinappro Company, Nong Lam University, and Bui van
Ngo Company, respectively. Other reports from provincial level such as Ben Tre, Hau Giang,
etc, were also involved.
According to MRD-RRI, there was about 500-600 reapers for the whole MRD. This number is
too small compared to the demand of mechanical harvesting, i.e., most of rice harvesting by
hand. The threshing has been mechanized over 95%. Manual cutting with mechanical
threshing required half day to complete a hectare resulted in 3-6% losses. The report of
PHSCU showed 10-15% total post-harvest losses. The farmers have been aware of the benefit
from mechanical drying over sun drying since 2002. However, the reason of high losses was
due to inappropriate drying procedures of the users. PHSCU proposed to build the specific
production areas with one or two rice varieties. They also proposed to establish a connection
between the farmers, industrial producers, scientists and the governors in order to improve the
quality of rice production. The Soc Trang extension center reported a total post-harvest loss of
13.38% for the year 2003. They calculated the demand for harvesters and dryers was 100 and
900 units, respectively, by the year 2010. They proposed to organize the chains from buying
the paddy to drying, milling and consuming at provincial level. The Tien Giang extension
center reported a 4.5% of losses due to harvesting. They said that harvesting in Tien Giang was
always late due to the lack of labors and harvesters. The mechanical drying contributed 25% of
the paddy drying. The milling got problems of uneven grain quality and old equipments. They
proposed to improve the farmers knowledge on rice cultivation related to appropriate post-
harvest technology. They also proposed the government to have a preferential policy on
finance for the farmers to invest the equipments for mechanization of rice production.
The Vinappro company commented on their experiences in developing process of the
combined harvesters. Most of the rice fields in the MRD have small size which are suitable for
medium and small scale harvesters. Soft soil base is another problem challenged the moving of
harvesters. The company has targeted to solve this problem by manufacturing a light harvester
and they have got some initial good results. The Bui van Ngo company focused on analysis of
milling technology. The energy consumption of current systems is about 35-38kWh for milling
1 ton of paddy. For standard rice condition, 8% of broken grain is the contribution of the whole
milling process. This means that a good paddy milled by a moderate quality milling plant can
have 60% head rice yield (HRY). In other words, a HRY below 60% is a result of either bad
milling machines or bad post-harvest handling of rice. They proposed to establish the milling
systems of MRD as large scale exported milling systems with capacity of 300 000 to 500 000
ton/year. In addition, milling cost can be reduced by using rice husk for energy as well as
producing ethanol from small broken rice kernels.
Nong Lam University reported the drying technology in MRD in the last and next 15 years.
Mechanical drying is clearly efficient but not enough to convince the farmers. The number of
the dryers has increased recently but still far from the demand. The government should control
strongly on the drying technology. The scientists and producers have to work harder to change
the mind of the farmers.
