Abstract
In Kedah State of west Malaysia where double cropping of rice is commonly practiced, the latter half of the off-season cultivation is characterized by daily intermittent showes and sunshine. Main results obtained in the experiment that ascertains the feasibility of sun drying of the rice grains in such a climatic background are summerized as follows:
The moisture content of the grains at harvesting time was influenced by the position of the grains on the panicle, time of the harvest during a day, number of days from heading to harvest and lodging.
As for sun drying, the grains with 20% moisture content could be dried down to 10% level on concrete floor under the strong sunshine from 10: 00 a.m. to 3: 00 p.m. and also in only 3 hours in the afternoon. In the case of fully wet grains with 40% moisture content, which were exposed to rain after harvest, they could be dried up to around 10% under the bright sun from 10: 00 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m. for two successive days.
From the above mentioned results and the fact that there are quite many days with bright sun even in the latter half of off-season crop, the sun drying of the rice grains in this crop season is considered to be still possible, but the paddy dryer will be the only alternative to the former when bad weather lasts for a long period of time. Acknowledgment:
The authors owe thanks to a number of persons. En. Mohd. Tamin bin Yeop who is the project manager of Muda Agriculture Development Authority, Mr. S. J. Samy and all members of the Pusat Latehan Pengeluaran Padi offered warm help and valuable advice to us. Thanks are also due to the members of Meteorological Station in Alor Star for their useful suggestion and to Mr. Hidetoshi Yaoi of the OTCA for his great assistance.
