A field practice report at the bio production and machinery laboratory, University of Tsukuba, Japan with focus on the postharvest processes of drying, milling, and packaging of rice

Date

12-2016

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Major Course

Major in Agricultural and Bio-Process Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ma. Cristine Concepcion D. Ignacio

Abstract

The field practice was held in the Bio Production Machinery Laboratory of the College of Agrobiological Resource Sciences, School of Life and Environmental Sciences in University of Tsukuba, Japan. It was held on June 29 ? July 31, 2015. Knowledge on the different rice postharvest processes done in Japan were obtained through the field practice. Rice production is a major component of the food industry in the world. It is much embedded in the culture, tradition, and diet of Asians. In the Philippines, the current supply of rice, the staple food of the Filipinos, is not sufficient to meet the demand of the country?s population today. The Philippines has been importing rice mainly from Vietnam and Thailand for the past few years. Development of high-yielding breeds and better irrigation and drainage systems are being done to address the issue. Another aspect of addressing the issue would be to improve the technologies and techniques used in the postharvest processes on rice. The University of Tsukuba is one of the premier universities in Japan. It caters to students from different parts of the world. One of the programs that they implement is the Trans ASEAN Global Agenda Education Short Term Study Program (TAG-TSSP). Through this, the field practice was conducted with the use of their laboratory under the supervision of one of their professors, Assis. Prof Genkawa Takuma. In the laboratory, different rice quality experiments were performed. These are moisture determination, microorganism count in rice, rice germination, and free-fatty acid spectrum determination using mid-IR spectroscopy. As part of the field practice, a country elevator located in Tsukuba was visited. This facility provides drying, storage, and milling services to farmers within the area. The flow of process inside the plant and the corresponding equipment used per process were observed. The study showed the differences in practice in Japan and in the Philippines. Also as part of the field practice, the Marumo Food Market in Tsukuba was visited. Plastic packages were observed to be the most common packaging material for rice. Through this study, the status of rice postharvest processing in the Philippines was evaluated relative to the processes done in Japan. Therefore, recommendations on how to improve our system can be made. Also, the importance of having adequate practices on the postharvest processes of rice was emphasized. The role of the government in the effort of improving these practices was stressed in the study. Moreover, the different crop processing concepts discussed in class were applied and better understood in the field practice.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

Thesis

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS