Cross-country experiences in Southeast Asia on research and technology transfer for the flat-bed dryer

Special Seminar

By Phan Hieu Hien
Consultant, ADB Postharvest Project, and
Retired researcher and lecturer
Nong-Lam University
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

13:30 H, Monday, 11 March 2013
Room A, D.L. Umali Laboratory, IRRI

Abstract:

The flat bed dryer has come a long way. The first 2-ton prototype was developed at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) in the 1970s and was copied with modifications by IRRI shortly after.

IRRI then worked with NARES partners in most rice-producing countries to introduce and test the technology, which, for a long time, was not very successful because of the high cost of drying using the kerosene-fired burner and the lack of quality incentives in rice markets.

In Vietnam, however, the flat-bed dryer was scaled up to 4, 6, 8 tons (and today to 30-tons)  and used by farmers, seed producers, and millers; among new features were efficient dryer fans and rice husk furnaces with complete combustion.  farmers and millers started using the flat bed dryer but using rice husk as fuel. Currently, about 9,000 flat-bed dryers are drying annually about 3 millions tons of wet-season paddy in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

Today, the flat bed dryer has been re-introduced to most Southeast Asian countries, where it is manufactured in significant numbers. In the Philippines, for example, Nong-Lam University (NLU) worked with PhilRice with some support from IRRI to re-introduce the modified dryers from Vietnam. Farmers and processors are now able to dry their paddy and seeds under controlled conditions in any weather and produce quality grains that ensure high returns from the rice harvest.

IRRI’s Postharvest Team invites all to come and listen to an amazing story of technology transfer, adaptation, and adoption by Phan Hieu Hien, who has introduced the very first flat bed dryer to Vietnamese manufacturers.

Dr. Hien and his team from NLU have contributed greatly in adapting the technology to postharvest needs in Vietnam. He has recently assessed developments in Cambodia and the Philippines as part of IRRI’s postharvest technology projects. His presentation will focus on experiences in the Philippines, but also summarizes developments in Cambodia, Laos, Tanzania, and Vietnam.