The development of a frictional Rice Polishing Machine (RPM) is a major effort made to
increase the acceptability of local rice owing to the importation ban placed on the imported rice
and the willingness of the government to encourage the adequate processing of the local rice.
This work is intended to: bridge the wide gap existing between the local/traditional ways
of polishing rice and the modern methods; reduce the amount of premium placed on the
use of sophisticated imported rice polishers and the local fabricated machines; improve
the attractive shinning appearance of polished rice and packing properties; and remove
final traces of dust, bran and flour from the rice surface. The machine developed in this
work processes local rice at the rate of 25 g/s. As of February 2005, it costs Nigerian
Naira (N) 50,950 (approx. 13,185 Thai Baht) to produce this unit using locally
available materials. The machine competes favorably with the imported ones.