Moisture content is basically the percentage of moisture contained in rice or paddy and is expressed as a percentage. This is called the wet basis, which means the total weight of particles containing water.
Why is it important?
It is very important to measure. Moisture content For rice and rice management and marketing, in the rice. Different purpose of rice depends on different ideal moisture content, so accurate water content testing is essential. Incorrect measurement of moisture content may lead to various serious scenarios.
- If the grain is very wet in the storage, it will rot.
- If the cereal is too solid it means being very dry, it will result in weight loss of these crops which means loss of profit.
- If the paddy field is harvested more than necessary, it will lead to extra drying cost and harvest loss.
- When Rice is crushed With wrong water content, there is rice of low rice.
- If the paddy field is dried too much, excessive drying cost will be applied, and the quality of rice will deteriorate.
There are two ways to measure the moisture content in the grain.
- Main method - It is based on weight measurement such as infrared moisture balance and oven method
- Secondary method - In this method, electronic devices using electrical characteristics are used
Type of portable moisture meter used:
harvest - Here, to measure MC, use a resistive moisture meter that can obtain quick results with only small samples. If you have a low MC, there will be more losses from crushing and a higher Mc will cause losses from the poor Cereal quality.
Drying - Inappropriate drying leads to low grain quality, so seeds should be discharged to less than 12%, grains should be discharged to less than 14%. Dry paddy fields within 24 hours after harvest to avoid damage.
storage - In the first few weeks and months, the proportion of MC should be less than 14% and should be less than 13% in 8 to 12 months.
Grinding - Standard MC is 13% to 14%.
