Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Dryer for Quality Grain Seeds

M Ayub Hossain
Senior Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur-1701

M Shoeb Hassan
Principal Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur-1701

M Shirazul Islam
Chief Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur-1701

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The hybrid dryer was tested for drying of paddy, wheat, maize and groundnut seeds. Times required for drying of 250-300 kg of paddy, 250 kg of wheat, 350 kg of maize and 200 kg groundnut seeds were 17, 12, 16 and 20 hours, respectively. There were no significant differences in drying rates between top and bottom layers (12-15 cm bed depth) of seeds. The dryer was tested and its field performance was evaluated in Jessore, Rajshshi and Dinajpur during the period of 2010-2011. In all the locations, paddy seeds were dried. The field performance of the dryer was found satisfactory in terms of drying rate and seed quality. For the tested grains, seed germinations were above 90%, viabilities were about 85% and vigor indices were above 1.0. Therefore, it is evident from the test results that good quality seeds were produced through drying them in the hybrid dryer. The benefit cost ratios (BCR) for drying of paddy seeds was 1.40. The payback period of the dryer was 0.44 year. Major portion of energy used in hybrid dryer was solar energy and it is environment friendly. This dryer is recommended for drying of grain seeds at farm level in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Germination, Solar collector, Solar radiation, Viability, Vigour

Location: Gazipur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Jessore

Start Date: 00-00-2009

End Date: 00-00-2011

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Performance evaluation

Objectives:

1. To test the hybrid dryer for drying of maize, paddy, wheat and groundnut seeds

2. To test the dryer in farm level of Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Jessore

Methodology:

Test procedure The dryer was tested at Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur during the period of 2009-2010 for its technical performance evaluation. Firstly, the dryer was tested without any load to observe the temperatures at different points of the collector and drying chamber. During the test, ambient temperature, ambient relative humidity, temperature at different points in the collector and drying chamber, airflow at the outlet of the drying chamber, inlet and outlet temperatures, airflow in the drying chamber, reflected and global solar radiation were recorded at one hour interval. Then the dryer was tested for drying of paddy, wheat, maize and groundnut seeds. Freshly harvested grains were either purchased or collected from BARI farm. Five full load experimental runs were conducted for paddy and one experiment was conducted for each of wheat, maize and groundnut. During the drying test ambient temperature, ambient relative humidity, solar radiation, temperature at different points in the collector and drying chamber, airflow at the outlet of the drying chamber, moisture content of seeds were recorded at one hour interval. Temperatures were measured at one hour interval by a digital temperature meter. Relative humidity was measured using a digital hygrometer A digital solar meter was used to measure the solar radiation during the day time. Velocity of drying air was measured with an anemometer. The moisture content of seeds was measured by a grain moisture meter. Testing of seed quality The seed collected from each experimental runs were tested to determine their germination, viability and vigor. The standard germination test was conducted by placing seed samples on moist tissue paper placed in petridish. The seeds that had root or shoot longer than 2 mm were considered as germinated seeds. Seed viability was calculated using tetrazoidal test.

Source of Information: Research Report, BARI

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Time required for drying of 250-300 kg of paddy, 250 kg of wheat, 350 kg of maize and 200 kg groundnut were found to be 17, 12, 16 and 20 hours, respectively. Time required for drying of paddy seeds up to the final moisture content (10%) ranged 10-14 hours in the field levels. The germination was found higher the samples dried in hybrid dryer than those of yard drying samples. For all crops, seed germinations were above 90%, vigor indices were above 1.0 and seed viabilities were about 85%. The benefit cost ratio was 1.40. The pay-back period of the dryer was 0.44 year. It is evident from the economic analysis that, if the dryer would be used for year round drying of paddy seeds, then the dryer would be economically viable. The drying of grain seeds in hybrid dryer is found to be technically and economically viable technology in Bangladesh. Therefore, hybrid dryer is recommended for drying of grain seeds at farm level in Bangladesh

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings