Báo cáo khoa học nông nghiệp " Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field and during post-harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam " docx

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Project Progress Report FIRST SIX-MONTHLY REPORT No of Milestone (MS) 2 Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field and during post- harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam 026/VIE05 September 2006 NONG LAM UNIVERSITY 1 Table of Contents 1. Institute Information___________________________________________________14 2. Project Abstract _______________________________________________________15 3. Executive Summary____________________________________________________15 4. Introduction & Background _____________________________________________15 5. Progress to Date_______________________________________________________20 5.1 Implementation Highlights_______________________________________________ 20 5.2 Smallholder Benefits____________________________________________________ 21 5.3 Capacity Building ______________________________________________________ 23 5.4 Publicity ______________________________________________________________ 23 5.5 Project Management____________________________________________________ 23 6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues __________________________________________23 6.1 Environment __________________________________________________________ 23 6.2 Gender and Social Issues ________________________________________________ 24 7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues____________________________________24 7.1 Issues and Constraints __________________________________________________ 24 7.2 Options_________________________________________________________________ 7.3 Sustainability____________________________________________________________ 8. Next Critical Steps_____________________________________________________24 9. Conclusion___________________________________________________________24 10. Statuatory Declaration _________________________Error! Bookmark not defined. 2 1. Institute Information Project Name Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field and during post-harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam Vietnamese Institution Nong Lam University Vietnamese Project Team Leader Dr vinh Truong Australian Organisation The University of Queensland Australian Personnel Associate Professor Bhesh Bhandari Professor Shu Fukai Date commenced April 2006 Completion date (original) March 2009 Completion date (revised) April 2009 Reporting period 6 months Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: Bhesh Bhandari Telephone: +61733469192 Position: Associate Professor Fax:+61733651177 Organisation: The University of Queensland Email:b.bhandari@uq.edu.au In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Mr Kerry Johnston Telephone: +61 7 3365 7493 Position: Research support officer Fax: +61 7 33658383 Organisation: The University of Queensland Email: k.johnston@research.uq.edu.au In Vietnam Name: Vinh Truong Telephone: 84-8-7242527 Position: Head, Department of Chemical Engineering Fax: 84-8-8960713 Organisation: Nong Lam University Email: tv@hcmuaf.edu.vn 14 2. Project Abstract Since the project commencement date of April 2006, three cooperatives were selected for installation of driers and reapers in order to provide small holder farmers the technical knowledge to practice optimum harvesting, and drying methods and conditions. Systematic data collection was undertaken to quantify the amount of cracked rice in the field due to early or delayed harvesting practices. Experiments were also conducted to characterise a newly installed drier in one of the cooperatives. Extensive literature review and preliminary experiments were conducted at the University of Queensland to apply molecular relaxation concept into rice cracking. A systematic survey on milling losses was undertaken to obtain actual data. A workshop was held in Can Tho for the extension workers in order to provide them information about the project and to share each others experience on the knowledge on the rice cracking. This project also assisted to continue a collaborative working culture among various research teams across faculties in the Nong Lam University and also between the University, Government organisations, farmers cooperative and farmers. Training of one NLU staff member in Australia and visits of project leader to rice research institutes in Thailand and Philippines will take place in October 2006. 3. Executive Summary There are four main project objectives that will be implemented phase wise during the course of the project duration. These include (i) research in the field (ii) experimental work on drying (iii) extension and training to farmers, service providers and extension workers, and (iv) Training of Nong Lam University personnel engaged in the project. During the past 5 months (April-Aug 2006) three farmers cooperatives were identified in three different provinces (Can Tho, Kieng Giang and Long An) to implement various activities. Each of these cooperatives was installed with one reaper/combined harvester or a flat bed-dryer (8 ton capacity). Data collection on post-harvest losses (in more than two provinces), harvesting time experiment (two cooperatives and one seed centre) and a drying experiment were undertaken in various provinces and also at the Nong Lam University. One MPhil student from Nong Lam University undertook preliminary work on the application of glass relaxation concept to improve the mechanical property of rice. One day seminar/workshop was organised in Can Tho for extension workers and scientist from post-harvest institutions to highlight the project objectives and also to obtain input from the extension workers on grain losses in relation to harvesting, drying and milling practices in Mekong Delta. 4. Introduction & Background 4.1 Project objectives The specific objectives of this project are: 1. To identify and generate information for the appropriate harvesting method (manual or mechanical) of rice to reduce grain cracking and losses. 15 2. To improve the performance of current driers and optimise the drying method to minimise the broken portion on the basis of fundamental structural relaxation concept, particularly in a high temperature compact-drying system. 3. To make the farmers, service providers, millers and extension workers aware of various factors responsible for harvesting and milling losses and degradation of rice quality. 4. To increase the research and teaching capability of institution and staff members on rice quality and related products. 4.2 Expected project outputs The expected outputs during the last 5 months period were: • Selection of cooperatives for undertaking experiments and as a centre for demonstration to farmers • Experiments to identify optimum harvesting methods to reduce grain loss • Production of demonstration materials • Experiments for optimum drying conditions identified for high temperature compact dryers • New process intervention introduced to validate molecular relaxation concept • Reports/publications • 39 extension workers are trained with new information • Production of 6-monthly report 4.3 Approach and Methodology The approach and methodology were adopted from the original project proposal. In this project, the smallholder farmers are the major target for extension work through the pilot farmers’ cooperatives particularly for Objectives 1 and 3. Three farmers cooperatives were identified in three different provinces (Can Tho, Kieng Giang and Long An) (Figures 1,2). As for Objective 2, the analysis of the problem will be analysed at micro or molecular level using a glass-rubber transition and molecular relaxation concepts. This new approach and understanding is expected to assist in developing high capacity dryers which will use high drying temperature. As for Objective 4, strong research collaboration will be fostered at NLU to capture the expertise from various departments and faculties; research staff members will be trained in Australia and a visit will be organised for project leader. Figure 1: Location of three cooperatives (in Can Tho, Kien Giang and Long An provinces) in Mekong Delta. 16 Figure 2: Visit of Tan-Phat A farmers cooperative in Kieng Giang province by Australian and Vietnamese project personnel (8- ton flat bed drier is installed in this cooperative) 4.3.1 Implementation Methodologies This project consisted of four main activities to achieve the goals as highlighted in the objectives: Objective 1 activities: Conducting experiments to relate harvesting time and methods on cracking fraction of rice and losses for different varieties and seasons. The objective of this experiment is to determine the effect of harvesting time on kernel cracking and optimize harvesting period of some rice varieties in Summer-Spring season in the MRD. Harvesting time field experiments were conducted on two most cultivated varieties of Tan Thoi 1 (Can Tho) and Tan Phat (Kien Giang) cooperatives, and in seed centre of An Giang province. Optimum harvesting time for each variety was determined based on analysis of experimental data. According to local survey results, the two most cultivated rice varieties OM 2718 and OM 1490, An Giang 24 and Jasmine were chosen in Can Tho, Kien Giang and An Giang provinces, respectively. Using a randomised block design, the rice was harvested 6 days prior and 6 days post-maturity stages in 2 days intervals. The number of rice kernels with cracks and chalkiness were measured for both brown and milled rice. The full analyse of the results will be presented in the yearly report. Harvesting method (manual and harvester) comparison on the post-harvest losses was also undertaken in Can Tho and Long An provinces. Cracking behaviour of the grain due to threshing was also investigated in Can Tho and Kien Giang provinces. Data of the actual harvesting losses due to current harvesting practice by farmers were collected in Can Tho and Kien Giang provinces. Experimental design and data will be presented in the next report. Objective 2 activities: This comprised of the following activities: Optimization of the drying method based on glass relaxation phenomenon. 17 An eight-ton capacity flat bed drier was installed in Tan Phat A cooperative located in addition to the dryer installed in a cooperative, another one-ton lab scale flat bed dryer wo mobile lab scale dryers were also built to dry the samples collected in the field high temperature compact drier with a tempering system is being designed at Nong igure 3: The 8-ton dryer installed at Tan-Phat cooperative, Kien Giang province er operating at reversible air flow mode) Tan-Hiep District of Kieng Giang Province. At first, we intended to contract the construction of the dryer with additional features to a local dryer manufacturer, but no contractor was willing to do it to meet our need. So, the research team decided to build an air-reversible SRA-8 design from NLU with slight modifications. The installation of the dryer was completed in mid-July 2006 (Figure 3), just in time for the wet-season harvest, and for experimental purpose. This time the purpose of the experiment was to evaluate the performance and throughput of the dryer at different drying regimes. The full results and interpretations of this and forthcoming work will be submitted in the next report. It is to note that this information will be provided to farmers and extension workers during the training and seminar sessions. In is being constructed at NLU which will be used to undertake experiments under controlled condition (Figure 4). T (Figure 5). These dryers were used in the field to dry the rice samples collected during the harvesting time trials. A Lam University. It will be built in the next six months. F (second figure shows dry -A 18 Figure 4: A one-ton drier being constructed at NLU for laboratory experiments at controlled conditio s ve terature survey and preliminary experiments to characterise the cracking behaviour of cal on Test (Figure 6) text The re etnamese counterpart by providing recent literatures lated to rice drying and cracking behaviour. At the moment her work is limited to a few Figure 5: Mobile Lab scale cabinet dryer to dry the rice samples n A Vietnamese student (Mrs Tuyen-Thuc Truong) working at UQ undertook extensi li Australian varieties of rice. The preliminary study included the followings: • Analysis of physical properties and total amylose content of selected rice varieties; • Determination of glass-rubber transition temperature by Thermal Mechani Compressi • Effects of tempering on mechanical strength of rice (by texture analyser using rig depicted in Figure 7). searcher also assisted Vi re Australian rice varieties. She will be visiting Vietnam early next year to work on Vietnamese rice varieties. 19 111 mm 0.5 mm 1 m m Objective 3 activities: This comprises of following sub-activities: i. Demonstrations to the farmers and provincial pilot cooperatives on the benefit of mechanical drying against sun drying and the economic value of the correct harvesting time and method. As indicated above each of the identified cooperatives was installed with one reaper/combined harvester or a flat bed-dryer (8-ton capacity). The demonstration materials are being prepared at present. The demonstration and training activity for the farmers were not done during this period but will begin in the next 3 months. ii. Study the performance of milling plants and solutions to improve the milling efficiency. We have commenced to collect the data of milling losses in two provinces. The milling loss data were collected directly from three milling plants in each province (Kien Giang and Tien Giang). Since the work is being continued, the full report will be presented next year. The available data will also be incorporated into the training manual. Objective 4 activities: Training the staff members to improve the R &D and teaching capability in rice science and technology. There was no activity during this period, but one research worker from Nong Lam University will be visiting University of Queensland from October. The project coordinator Dr Vinh Truong is also visiting Thailand and Philippines in the first week of October. 5. Progress to Date 5.1 Implementation Highlights The brief highlights of the project executed in the past 5 months are described below. 2.0 mm 2.5 mm 3.0 mm 3.5 mm 4.0 mm 90 mm 9 mm 99 mm Figure 6: Texture analyser attached with a UQ rig to measure the glass-rubber transition of rice kernel (this device will be duplicated in NLU next year) Figure 7: UQ Rig to measure mechanical strength of individual kernel of rice (same device will be used at NLU) 20 5.1.1 Influence of harvesting time on rice cracking Experiments conducted on two common rice varieties indicated that the rice cracking is obviously influenced by the variety and time of harvesting. Harvesting the rice a few days prior to maturity will not have much effect on rice cracking, but delayed harvesting will result in significant rice cracking (up to 24% of total brown rice). Few representative results obtained from two varieties are presented as below in Figure 8. A full analysis of the data will be undertaken and will be presented in the next report. As planned, this information will be included in the training document for farmers. 5.1.2 Drying of paddy using a reversible flat bed dryer Some preliminary experiments on the 8-ton capacity dryer were conducted to characterise this dryer. The work also quantified the energy consumption during the process per kilogram of a paddy dried. Some highlights of this initial work are as follow: - The effect of air reversal is very apparent in reducing the final moisture differential which can influence head rice yield during milling - Air reversal also decreased the drying time - The drying temperature in the dryer was stable and can be kept within ± 2 o C - The husk and diesel consumptions per kg of rice dried were 33.45 kg and 1.77 litres, respectively at a drying temperature of 43 o C. The drying time for paddy was approximately 12 hrs to bring the moisture down from 26 to 15% (wet basis). However, the drying time decreased to 8 hrs by using two stage drying (50 o C for 1 hr followed by drying at 43 o C). These remarks are preliminary and need to be supplemented by data on milling analysis, which is being undertaken and will be reported at a later stage. All these information will be used in the extension work. 0.80 3.20 9.60 4.80 10.80 15.20 23.60 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00 22.00 24.00 26.00 FTT1 FTT2 FTT3 FTT4 FTT5 FTT6 FTT7 Treatm ent Cracking percentage % 21 [...]... Glass transition phenomenon in relation to rice cracking Some preliminary experiments were undertaken to determine an effective technique to measure the glass transition temperature of rice and to investigate the effect of tempering on the increase in the mechanical strength of rice This was the preliminary work mainly to establish the methodology and feasibility of the research The glass transition was... rice cracking The document prepared (in Vietnamese only) during the workshop will be presented in the next progress report 5.2 Smallholder Benefits The reaper and drier are installed in the cooperatives in which many of their members are small holder farmers We are not able to evaluate the benefits at this stage, but we will be able to report the implementation and benefits in the forthcoming reports... 10: Increased mechanical strength of the rice due to tempering 5.2.4 Extension service One day workshop was organised in the premises of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Can Tho on 23rd June 2006 There were more than 50 participants in this workshop The extension workers from various provincial councils in Mekong Delta 22 shared the existing information and experiences on rice cracking. .. expected and has met the milestone Due to the delay start of the project certain outcomes are still due Within this short period of time we have been able to collect a number of important information on rice cracking This information will be passed onto all stakeholders in the form of training manual and other documents This project has also contributed to build a strong collaborative team within NLU In the. .. encouraging 8 Next Critical Steps The project will be implemented as planned in the log-frame in the next 6 months There will be much more work in the next 6 months which will involve training to farmers, service providers and extension workers, and collection of more data We will focus on training part of the program in the next 3 months 24 9 Conclusion The project has been successfully commenced The. .. since the actual progress has been pushed forward by two months (actual commencement date of the project was May 2006) To build the dryer/reapers and purchase the equipment such as texture analyser, and to undertake various other training activities the amount is required in advance A MPhil student who is working in Australia using Australian varieties of rice will do field trial in Vietnam using Vietnamese... confidence to the project execution team for the future implementation strategy At this stage there are no pertaining issues, except requirement of some advance financial payments It should be pointed out here that the amount allocated following each milestone deadline does not match with the investment to be made for the purchase of the driers and other equipment The delay start of the project also... will need the texture analyser in Vietnam Since she plans to come to Vietnam in January 2007 (during Jan-Feb harvest time) and also the purchase of this instrument is scheduled for the same year, it is important that we receive a sum of money in advance in order to be able to order the equipment by late November 7.2 Options The only option to ensure that each activity can be done according to the plan... make two payments of $29000 in the next milestone 7.3 Sustainability The project has received enough support from various individuals from the University, provincial governments and farmer’s cooperatives The project is quite sustainable in the current environment In our experience, cooperative model to implement the project is expected to be a success The reception and enthusiasm of the cooperatives... by TMCT (Thermal Mechanical Compression Test) device developed at the UQ (Figure 9) The same technique will be used in NLU The required rig will be built at UQ The results indicated that there is an increase in the mechanical strength of the rice due to tempering at high temperature (Figure 10) The time required for such changes will be longer at lower temperature Further research is underway and will . defined. 2 1. Institute Information Project Name Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field and during post-harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam Vietnamese. 10: Increased mechanical strength of the rice due to tempering 22 shared the existing information and experiences on rice cracking. The document prepared (in Vietnamese only) during the. Influence of harvesting time on rice cracking Experiments conducted on two common rice varieties indicated that the rice cracking is obviously influenced by the variety and time of harvesting.