Distribution and Use Patterns of Small-Scale Rice Mills in Kampar Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Milling process is the most completely mechanized in rice farming operations in Kampar Regency, Indonesia. Small-scale rice mills are the most popular used by rice farmers and widely distributed over paddy areas in the region. Accordingly, a survey was conducted to recognize the distribution and use patterns of the small-scale rice mills. A total of 20 small-scale rice mills were observed from selected districts of the regency and the machines’ owners and operators were interviewed to collect field data.  The results showed that the distribution of the small-scale rice mills was concentrated in a wider area of paddy field with a high level of production due to a high demand of milling rice in the areas. Because of most farmers are subsistence in production and the rice will be milled when being consumed, so the small-scale rice mills could be operated along the year.  The number of paddy milled in total for a year was 16.4 tonnes for rice mills with a capacity of 750 kg/h and 3.9 tonnes for rice mills with a capacity of 500 kg/h.  However, the number of milled paddy varied across months with the peak demand for milling rice occurred after harvesting and before fasting month.