Project Progress Report: " Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field and during post-harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam - Ms5" pot

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Progress Report

MS5: SECOND SIX-MONTHLY REPORT







May 2007



026/05VIE
Investigation of rice kernel cracking and its control in the field
and during post-harvest processes in the Mekong Delta of
Vietnam









NONG LAM UNIVERSITY

Table of Contents

1. Institute Information__________________________________________________ 1
2. Project Abstract______________________________________________________ 2
3. Executive Summary___________________________________________________ 2
4. Introduction & Background ____________________________________________ 3
4.1 Project objectives________________________________________________________ 3
4.2 Expected project outputs _________________________________________________ 3
4.3 Approach and Methodology_______________________________________________ 3
4.3.1 Implementation methodologies___________________________________________________ 4
5. Progress to Date ______________________________________________________ 9
5.1 Implementation Highlights________________________________________________ 9
5.1.1 Influence of harvesting time on rice cracking________________________________________ 9
5.1.2 Drying of paddy using a reversible flat bed dryer_____________________________________ 9
5.1.3 Glass transition phenomenon in relation to rice cracking ______________________________ 10
5.1.4 High temperature drying and tempering effect on head rice yield and mechanical strength of rice
11
5.2 Extension service _______________________________________________________ 14
5.3 Smallholder Benefits ____________________________________________________ 14
5.4 Capacity Building ______________________________________________________ 14
5.5 Publicity ______________________________________________________________ 14
5.6 Project Management ____________________________________________________ 15
6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues ________________________________________ 15
6.1 Environment __________________________________________________________ 15
6.2 Gender and Social Issues ________________________________________________ 15
7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues _________________________________ 15
7.1 Issues and Constraints___________________________________________________ 15
7.2 Options _______________________________________________________________ 16
7.3 Sustainability __________________________________________________________ 16

8. Next Critical Steps ___________________________________________________ 16
9. Conclusion _________________________________________________________ 17
10. Statuatory Declaration __________________________Error! Bookmark not defined.
11. Project Progress Against Proposed Objectives, Outputs, Activities And Inputs
Error! Bookmark not defined.
12. APPENDICES ______________________________________________________ 20

1

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:

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:

In Vietnam
Name: Vinh Truong

Telephone:
84-8-7242527
Position: Head, Department
of Chemical Engineering

Fax:
84-8-8960713
Organisation: Nong Lam
University

Email:



1
2. Project Abstract

Reduced whole rice grain yield due to cracking is one of the major issues that directly
reduce income and availability of staple food to the farmers in the Mekong River Delta.
The cracking or partial fissuring of rice kernels may occur right in the paddy field due to
incorrect harvesting time/practice, improper post-harvest drying conditions and
inappropriate milling operations. This project aims to improve the quality and value of the
rice, through an integrated approach which encompasses farmers, millers, service
providers and extension workers and education institution. A key objective of this project
is to improve the knowledge of smallholder farmers by organizing workshops and
demonstration for farmer cooperatives in the region so that appropriate harvesting and
subsequent grain handling techniques are observed to improve rice grain quality.
Similarly there will be demonstration and workshops for small millers to encourage them
to install driers and/or provide them technical knowledge to practice optimum drying
conditions. Improvement of the capacity of the extension workers by providing updated
knowledge is another objective. The theory of grain drying will be advanced that would
improve designs of future dryers. The education institutions involved in the project will
work together for capacity building of their staff members in the Nong Lam University.
3. Executive Summary
This report covers the major activities from 1 Sept 2006 to 30 April 2007. 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. During the last six-month one 4-ton
drier (solar assisted) was installed in Go Gon cooperative (Moc Hoa, Long An province).
Systematic data collection was undertaken in dry/spring season to quantify the amount of

cracked rice in the field due to early or delayed harvesting practices. Rice tempering
experiments were conducted at the University of Queensland using Australian rice varieties
to apply molecular relaxation concept into rice cracking. High temperature compact fluidised
bed drying with tempering experiments were undertaken to determine technical suitability of
such drier to dry high moisture content rice during wet season. Farmers training program and
demonstrations were held in Kien Giang province in order to disseminate the knowledge to
the farmers about the rice cracking, drying and harvesting practices. A separate refurbished
laboratory has been provided by NLU for CARD project, where the entire laboratory based
equipment units funded by CARD are now housed. Overseas visits were undertaken by
Vietnamese and Australian coordinators in Thailand and Philippines to learn about their
experiences in rice cracking and get aware of their current activities in relation to post-
harvest handling of rice and farmers’ training. One NLU staff member undertook training at
the University of Queensland, Australia during this period.




2
4. Introduction & Background
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.
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.

The expected outputs during the last 6 months period were:
• Experiments are continued to identify optimum harvesting time and methods to
reduce grain losses (dry/spring season)
• Demonstration materials are produced
• Experiments are conducted for optimum drying conditions identified for high
temperature compact dryers
• Best drying condition identification for current flat-bed driers in MRD
• New process intervention introduced to validate molecular relaxation concept
• 520 farmers training
• Study tours for 80 farmers and service providers
• 130 service providers training for operating dryers at optimum conditions
• 39 extension workers are trained with new information
• Training of 1 staff member in Australia
• Visit of Vietnamese project leader in rice research institute in Cambodia, Thailand
and Philippines
• Production of Reports

gy

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, Kien Giang and Long An) (Figures 1). One
solar assisted 4-ton drier was installed in the cooperative in Long An province in January
2007 (Figure 2). One reaper and one combined harvester have been installed in Can Tho and
Kien Giang provinces (Figure 3).

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 and introduce tempering as intermediate process. As for Objective 4,
strong research collaboration was continued to be fostered at NLU to capture the expertise
from various departments and faculties; a research staff member was trained in Australia and
a visit was organised for project leader in countries in the region.


3








Figure 2: SDG-4 (reversible, 4-ton/batch) dryer with a solar collector (a new development at
NLU in early 2007). This unique drying system has been installed in Go Gon farmers’
cooperative in Long An province.

Figure 1: Location of three
cooperatives (in Can Tho,
Kien Giang and Long An
provinces) in Mekong Delta.
One 4-ton drier was installed
in Long-An province in Jan
2007. One 8 ton-drier was
already installed in Kieng
Giang province earlier.
Another 8-ton drier is being
in

sta
ll
ed
in
Ca
n Th
o.

o
lo
g
ies
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.



4

Figure 3: A 1.3m wide reaper
provided to Tan Phat
cooperative (King Giang)
Harvesting time field experiments were conducted during dry/spring seasons on some most

cultivated varieties (OM9410, OM2718, Jasmine and AG24) of Tan Thoi 1 (Can Tho)
cooperative and other most cultivated varieties (OM2517 and OM4498) of Tan Phat A (Kien
Giang) cooperative. The farmers’ practice on their harvesting method and the losses were
collected via questionnaire. The number of rice kernels with cracks and chalkiness were
measured for both brown and milled rice samples. The full analyse of the results will be
presented in the next report.

Harvesting method (manual and harvester) comparison on the post-harvest losses during
spring/dry harvesting season was also undertaken in Kien Giang, 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.

Base line data on the farmers practice was collected. This has been reported in the previous
report (MS4).

Objective 2 activities: This comprised of the following activities:

Optimization of the drying method based on glass relaxation phenomenon.

In January 2007, one flat bed drier (4-ton capacity) was installed in Go Gon cooperative
located in Long An Province after the consultation and agreement with the farmers
cooperative representatives. A solar assisted flat bed drier was developed by collaborator of
this CARD project Dr Hien. In this drier the solar heat is collected along the extended tubular
collector (Figure 2). The air passing through this collector is heated up to 45
o
C. This type of
system is particularly suitable during spring/dry season. This is coupled with a coal furnace.
During full sunny days in dry season no other energy source is required. This is also a

reversible type of flat bed drier. The same drier was tested and used in the demonstration to
farmers. Dr Hien undertook experiments to characterise the driers in order to determine the
optimum drying conditions. These driers and the results obtained from the drying
experiments were used for demonstration purposes in the farmers’ training. The full drying
data analysis submitted by Dr Hien will be incorporated in the next technical report.


5
In addition to above dryer installed in a cooperative, another one-ton lab scale flat bed dryer
was constructed at NLU (Figure 4). This drier was also used for experiments and training
purposes.



Figure 4: One-ton reversible experimental dryer: Airflow upward (left figure) and Downward
reverse (right figure)

A high temperature compact drier with a tempering system was designed and built at Nong
Lam University (Figure 5). Some preliminary testing was done in this drier. Vietnamese
student (Mrs Tuyen-Thuc Truong) working at UQ is currently visiting NLU to undertake
experimental work using this drier. Mrs Truong undertook experimental work to determine
the effect of tempering on the mechanical strength of rice. The mechanical strength of
individual kernel of rice was measured using a Texture analyser (Figure 6) which is recently
purchased through this CARD project.
.

Figure 5: Mobile compact laboratory
fluid bed drier built at NLU. This is
being tested to dry high moisture
paddy harvested in wet harvesting
season in Mekong Delta
Figure 6: Texture analyser
(TA.XTPlus) installed at NLU.
This analyser is being used to
analyse the mechanical strength
of rice kernels. The testing rig

6




Objective 3 activities: This comprises of following sub-activities:
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.

The demonstration and training activity for the farmers were undertaken in February 2007 in
Tan Phat A Cooperative (Kien Giang province). A total 313 farmer representatives from Tan
Hiep and Giồng Riềng districts participated in this one day training session (two days for two
districts) (Figure 7). About 5 local extension officers also participated in the training session.
The harvesting and drying demonstrations and results obtained in the previous research were
presented during these sessions. Dr Vinh Truong, Mr. Tran van Khanh, and Mr. Nguyen
Thanh Nghi were the training instructors.







Figure 7: Full of the participants in the meeting hall at the training lesson in
25th February 2007
i. Study the performance of milling plants and solutions to improve the milling efficiency.

We have collected the data of milling losses in two provinces from three milling plants in each
province (Kien Giang and Tien Giang). The same information was reported in the earlier 6 monthly
report. 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.


7
The project coordinator Dr Vinh Truong visited King Mongkut’s University of Technology
(KMUTT), Thonburi, Bangkok and IRRI, Philippines from 1 October to 6 October 2006 (Figure 8).

This was an observation tour. Information was gathered from those institutes with regard to rice
drying, post-harvest handling, farmers’ training and milling. Dr Bhandari and Prof. Shu Fukai
(Australian cooridinators) also visited those institutes along with Dr Truong.

Mr Nguyen Thanh Phong from NLU undertook 3 months training in rice quality analysis at The
University of Queensland (25 December 2006 to 24 March 2007). Investigation was done in relation
to the effect of tempering on the rice quality such as pasting behaviour (cooking quality), changes in
physical properties such as crystallinity and colour. The trainee had an opportunity to use various
analytical equipment used for rice quality analysis, including rapid visco-analyser, X-ray diffraction
and FTIR.







Figure 8: Flat bed drier at IRRI, Philippines (top left), CARD project coordinators and
IRRI personnel (top right), Rice miling facility at IRRI (bottom left), Prof. Somchart

Soponronnarit
and others at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Thonburi
Bangkok, on the background a rice drying pilot plant is seen (bottom, right)

8
5. Progress to Date
t
s

The brief highlights of the project executed in the past 8 months are described below.

i
me on rice crackin
g

Experiments were conducted and data collected during the dry/spring season in Can Tho and
Kien Giang Provinces for OM2718, OM1490, OM2517 and OM4498 varieties of rice. This
added up the data already collected in wet season which was reported in the last 6-monthly
report. The collected data is being analysed and will be presented in next report.

reversible flat bed dr
y
er

The sub-component of CARD Project 026/VIE-05 on the flat-bed dryer study, as specified in
the contract, consists of the following activities:
• Select the site and supervise the installation of an 8-ton flat-bed dryer for experiments.
• Conduct experiments with the 8-ton dryer under actual production conditions.
• Build a lab (mini) dryer and other needed tools for experimenting under controlled
conditions.
• Conduct experiments to determine the optimum drying conditions for the flat-bed dryer
(with or without air reversal) using the lab mini-dryer at the Nong-Lam University or at a
nearby location.
• Conduct a Participatory Rapid Rural Appraisal (PRRA) survey on the use of flat-bed
dryer in the Mekong Delta.
• Write extension materials for future training courses, based on the outcome of the survey
and experiments.
The above activities can be clustered into 3 groups:
- The 8-ton dryer
- The 1-ton dryer
- Survey, training, and extension

The final report of the above-mentioned activities, covering the period from 15 May 2006 to
28 February 2007 has been submitted by Dr Hien’s group and will be incorporated into next
report. It is compiled from 2 earlier progress reports, and updated with most recent data and
findings, thus conclusions from this report.

The experiments were conducted in two seasons, wet and dry season crops. The following
conclusion were made.

The experiment results using wet season crops (July 2007) showed that:
- the effect of air reversal is very apparent in reducing the final moisture differential.
When operated correctly, this differential is less than 2 % with air reversal, but at least
5% without air reversal. More MC differential means more rice cracking during milling.
This explains why dryers installed since 2003 have been more and more of the reversible
principle.
- Air reversal also decreased the drying time.

9
- The drying temperature was stable and can be kept within ± 3
o
C.

The experiments undertaken using dry season crops (March 2007) showed that:
- the mechanical drying, whether with or without air reversal, is superior to sun drying
in terms of less crack percentage or more head rice recovery. About 3-4 % less
cracking, and about 4 % more head rice recovery are main data obtained from this set
of experiments.
- the mechanical drying with air reversal resulted in less Final MC differential (2.2 %)
compared to without air reversal (4.6 %) which is similar to the results obtained in
wet season.
- the increase in crack percentage between mechanical drying with and without air

differed by only 1 %; while judged by the head rice recovery, the difference was
only 0.4 %, or almost no difference. This was not expected in line with the above
data on Final MC differential. Thus more experiments should be conducted in the
future to confirm the trend.

All these information will be used in the extension activities. As mentioned above, the full
report will be attached in the next technical report.

e
non in relation to rice crackin
g

Three Australian grown rice varieties Tarra140, YRM64 and WAB450-I-B-P-160-HB (1.5%,
20% and 30.8% amylose content, respectively) were investigated for crystallinity, kernel
mechanical strength (breaking force) and glass-rubber transition temperature by Thermal
Mechanical Compression Test (TMCT) technique developed at UQ. Some representative
analytical graphs are presented in Figures 9 and 10. These rice varieties at three moisture
content levels (17%, 13%, and 10% wb) were tempered at three temperatures (40, 60, and
80
0
C) for four durations (40, 80, 120, and 240 min) without moisture loss. The increase in
mechanical strength during tempering was observed for YRM64 variety (non-waxy rice)
while there was no such effect on Tarra140 (waxy rice) variety. The finding in this study
further confirms the key role of moisture content, temperature and tempering time upon
mechanical strength of rice kernel during tempering. It was also found that there is an
occurrence of molecular relaxation during rice tempering as reflected by the increased
mechanical strength of rice kernel of some varieties. At the same time, it can also be
suggested that the equilibration of differential moisture content in the rice kernel during
actual tempering may have more dominating effect than the molecular relaxation for
minimising rice cracking. This is being further investigated.

10
0
20
40
60
80
00.511.5
Distance, mm
Force, N
0
20
40
60
80
100
81012141618
Moisture content, %wb
Breaking force, N
WAB
YRM64
TARRA
Figure 9: Typical force-deformation curve
for a brown rice kernel

Figure 10: Breaking force depends on
moisture content (three rice varieties). Data
points were plotted as an average breaking
force of 50 rice grains.

25
0
C, 60%RH


g
and temperin
g
effect on head rice yield and mechanical strength of rice

This preliminary work was carried out to investigate the effects of high temperature drying
and tempering on head rice yield, fissure enumeration and breaking force of rice. This work
was conducted by AusAID supported Vietnamese student who is currently visiting NLU to
undertake her experimental work using Vietnamese rice variety.

It is well accepted fact that it is not easy to apply (without significant loos in head rice yield)
one step fast drying to drop high moisture content of high moisture paddy (30%) to final
moisture content of <15%. This experiment was conducted mainly to check the effect of the
high temperature drying followed by tempering on the HRY. Fluidised bed drying reduces
the moisture content of the wet paddy rapidly to normal harvesting moisture content.
Tempering step can also be introduced to allow moisture equilibration within the kernel in
order to avoid fissure. This is important while dealing with high temperature drying, because
the moisture removal becomes diffusion rate limiting at high temperature. This tempering
step is believed not only to reduce the moisture differential but also allow internal molecular
relaxation improving the mechanical strength of rice.

The data from 27 fluidized bed drying runs undertaken at 80, 90 and 100
0
C for 2.5, 3.0 and
3.5 min are listed in Table 1. The thin layer drying at 35

0
C followed the fluidised bed drying.
The final moisture content of these samples after thin layer drying was below 14% wb. As
can be seen in Figure 11a, extending tempering duration results in higher head rice yield
(HRY). An improvement of HRY due to tempering is obvious from the results. As a
preliminary result, we can see the potential of using high temperature for wet paddy drying.
More experiments on fluidised-bed drying with tempering is being conducted and will be
report next time.




11

Table 1. Experimental conditions and the results of moisture content after fluidized-bed
drying and final moisture content after thin layer drying.

FD drying Run no
condition
Tempering
condition
Moisture content
after FD
Final moisture
content
Temp/time Temp/time %wb %wb
1 80/2.5 70/20 18.39 12.66
2 80/2.5 70/30 21.05 12.47
3 80/2.5 70/40 20.47 12.34

4 80/3.0 70/20 17.05 12.66
5 80/3.0 70/30 18.16 12.58
6 80/3.0 70/40 18.37 12.66

7 80/3.5 70/20 18.87 13.40
8 80/3.5 70/30 18.88 12.98
9 80/3.5 70/40 20.21 12.98

10 90/2.5 80/20 18.20 12.66
11 90/2.5 80/30 18.63 12.47
12 90/2.5 80/40 18.20 12.34

13 90/3.0 80/20 17.34 12.66
14 90/3.0 80/30 17.45 12.58
15 90/3.0 80/40 17.89 12.66

16 90/3.5 80/20 17.68 13.40
17 90/3.5 80/30 17.06 12.98
18 90/3.5 80/40 17.07 12.98

19 100/2.5 85/20 18.00 12.72
20 100/2.5 85/30 17.69 13.53
21 100/2.5 85/40 17.70 13.55

22 100/3.0 85/20 17.39 13.75
23 100/3.0 85/30 17.28 12.71
24 100/3.0 85/40 17.01 13.17

25 100/3.5 85/20 16.90 12.68
26 100/3.5 85/30 16.70 13.12

27 100/3.5 85/40 16.89 12.48







12
0
20
40
60
80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 131415 161718 192021 222324 252627 CTRL
Drying run
Head rice yield, %

0
10
20
30
40
50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2 0 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 C T R L
Drying run
Cracked grain ratio, %

0
20

40
60
80
123 456 789 101112131415161718192021 222324 252627
Drying run
Breaking force, N


Figure 11: Head rice yield (HRY), cracked grain % and mechanical strength of the rice
kernels of AG24 rice cultivar after subjected to various high temperature drying and
tempering regimes.


13
As said earlier one day training session for farmers was organised in Tan Phat cooperative
(King Giang province) (Figure 12). Five extension workers also participated during this
training period. During this training session information were provided in relation to
harvesting time and methods, mechanical drying and harvesting. A brief program report is
attached herewith as an appendix.



Figure 12: Glimpses of farmers training

The harvesters and driers are being installed in the cooperatives in which many of their
members are small holder farmers. These facilities are being managed and utilised by the
members of farmer’s cooperative. We are not able to evaluate the full benefits at this stage,
but we will be able to report the implementation and benefits in the forthcoming reports.

A large number of young and experienced staff members at NLU have been mobilised in

research, extension, training activities. Many of them are visiting fields during the harvesting
period to collect data. Engagement of several staff members at NLU in the project has
certainly helped to contribute to the capacity building of those staff members. Also the
project coordinator’s visit to rice research institutes in Thailand and Philippines and one staff
member’s to UQ (Australia) also contributed to capacity building.

NLU has specifically refurbished a laboratory for CARD project. All the pieces of equipment
purchased from CARD fund are located in this laboratory. This has significantly contributed
the capacity of NLU in research and rice testing ability.

Nothing significant has been done with this respect. But project coordinator has been visiting
community offices to inform the community leaders about the CARD activities (Figure 13).

14


Figure 13: Visit of a community in Can Tho province (Meeting Hall of the People
Committee of Tan Thoi Commune, Phong Dien District, Can Tho) media person
recorded and was expected to publicise the project activities in local media.

The project has been managed by the team leader Dr Vinh Truong at NLU. Dr Truong has
received support from all higher authorities and sub-ordinate staff members at NLU. There
are 4 junior staff member (including one research student) who are helping the project
implementation. Support for the monitoring the project, project planning and reporting has
been received from Australian collaborators. The data collection, compilation to proper
format and translation into English has been delayed due to lack of expertise of many staff
members. This has been addressed and will be resolved.

6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues

Nothing significant report to date.


Nothing significant to report to date.
7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
The project has been attempted to implement as planned. The collection of information, data
analysis and delay in translation of information in English has made it difficult to submit the
report in time. We have only one milling lab for analysis of cracking, chalkiness and HRY.
However, the number of samples for analysis of all the experiments and surveys were too
many (1000 samples/season). Beside, the project awaits information from number of
collaborators.


15
There was some error of judgment on the base-line data collection. The base line data
presented in the last milestone report will be updated and revised in consultation with
economist. This also contributed the delay of subsequent report wriritng.

The training program has not been implemented as proposed partly due to the inability of
Can Tho extension sub-unit (one of the collaborators) to assist us in the training and
extension. The number of farmers and extension workers trained was less than the expected.
However, this number was large enough and was very effectively organised due to
reasonable size of the farmers. We will discuss further how the farmers, extension worker
and millers training could be effectively implemented in absence of collaboration from
extension unit at Can Tho. Implementation of many activities of this project (such as
harvesting and drying experiments) through the involvement of members of cooperatives has
also provided an effective spontaneous training to the farmers.

There was some delay in installation of driers and harvesters, partly due to the delay in
decision making by farmers’ cooperatives. One of the dryers was supposed to be installed

early this year in Can Tho province, but the farmers opted for its installation in wet season.
This is being installed now. Similarly, the combined harvester to be supplied by us to the
cooperatives was delayed because they wanted to choose an efficient brand that took
sometime.

The drying trial was delayed by few months due to the problem at Custom Office for
releasing the texture analyser. The texture analyser was held at the airport for almost 2
months.

In summary, there are some experiment works which are taking long time and greater effort
than expected in the proposal. There has been some difficulty of organisation due to
numerous and diversified activities in the project. Some activities have been delayed and the
size of the activity has been reduced without affecting the outcome.


No significant to report.

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 has been
a great success. The reception and enthusiasm of the cooperatives have been very
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 months. The more baseline data will collected during wet season
and the current one will be revised.

16
9. Conclusion
In our point of view, the project output is satisfactory. We have tried to meet the milestones
although there has been delay due to some technical reasons as described previously. It has
been just one year of implementation of the project, but the outputs are very significant.
There are certain outputs which are not measurable at this stage. The most intriguing factor
of this project is that the information is flowing from University level to the basic farmer’s
level. This project has mobilised many NLU staff members and helped to develop
infrastructure at NLU. The cooperatives are mobilised and increased level of enthusiasm in
farmers is obvious in those cooperatives.


17






18








19

9. APPENDICES

20

21


22