Husker performance on small rice milling unit

Abstract

The post-harvest process very much determines the quality and quantity of rice. The utilization of agricultural machinery in rice milling is one solution in maintaining rice quality. The most commonly used husker machine is a rubber roll type. This study aims to calculate the efficiency of huskers and the quality of rice. The parameters measured to analyze the efficiency of the milling machine and the quality of rice are the weight of unhulled rice to be milled, the weight of milled rice, and the time for milling the grain to become rice. The results showed that the husker efficiency at 1,237 rpm rotation speed was 46.3%, at 1,354 rpm was 46.7% and at 1,395 rpm was 46.6%. The quality of rice produced at a rotation speed of 1237 rpm, 70.03% whole grains, 3.58% broken grains, 1.51% groats. For 1,354 rpm, the rotation speed is 67.75%, broken grains 5.16%, and groats 2.89%. While at the rotation speed of 1,395 rpm, the percentage of broken grains was 56.26%, broken grains 4.80%, groats 1.27%.