The moisture content is basically the weight of the water that is contained in the rice or husk expressed as a percentage. This refers to the wet basis which means the total weight of the grain, including water.

Because it is important?

It is very important to measure the moisture content in rice for the management and marketing of paddy and rice. Due to the different purposes of rice depending on different ideal moisture contents, it is essential to test the precise moisture content. If there are inaccurate moisture content measurements, it can lead to different serious scenarios:

1. If the grain is extremely wet in storage, it will spoil.
2. In case the grain is too solid it means that it is very dry, it will result in the weight loss of these grains, which means a loss of profits.
3. If the rice is harvested wetter than required, it will incur additional drying cost and also crop loss.
4. When the rice is ground with wrong moisture content, there is inferior head rice.
5. If you over-dry the rice, it results in additional drying cost along with loss of rice quality.

How to measure moisture content?

There are two methods for measuring moisture content in grain:

1. primary method – It is based on weight measurements, such as the infrared moisture balance and the oven method.
2. secondary method – In this method, electronic instruments are used that take advantage of the electrical characteristics of the grain.

When it comes to measuring moisture content, there are several portable grain moisture meters that can be used. When selecting a meter for this purpose, make sure it is suitable for the activity you will be using it for, such as grinding grain or
rice harvest.

The type of portable moisture meter used in:

Harvest – In this case, to measure the CM, please use a moisture resistance meter which can give you quick results only with small samples. If you have a low MC you will have more fragmentation losses and a higher Mc will result in bad fragmentation losses. grain quality.

Drying – Seeds should be dried below 12% and grains below 14%, as improper drying will lead to poor grain quality and poor visibility. To avoid any damage, dry the rice within 24 hours of harvest.

Storage – In the initial weeks and months, the MC percentage must be 14% or less and in 8 to 12 months, it must be 13% or less.

grinding – The standard MC is between 13% and 14%.