Increased competitiveness and the growing demands for rice have stimulated the transformation of
a conventional rice mill into an integrated, resource-efficient (IRE) rice mill complex. The IRE rice mill
complex utilises the by-products from a rice milling process that include the broken rice, rice bran and rice
husk, to produce value-added products and energy resources. This paper reviews the current processes
and technologies employed in a conventional rice mill. It also highlights the current baseline practices
of rice milling that offers vast opportunities for optimising the rice mill’s utility system and for valueadding
the by-products. Towards these ends, the concept of an IRE rice mill complex has been introduced
as a potential solution, along with the mass and energy balances of the key resources. Finally, the paper
highlights the key challenges in designing an IRE rice mill complex for both private millers and large rice
enterprises.