ABSTRACT
Mechanized rice hullers were introduced in Java, Indonesia, in an attempt to modernize agriculture on the island and thus to increase rice production. Traditional methods of rice harvesting in Java have changed significantly partly because of the increased population pressures on land. Rice must be processed through the machine four to eight times. It is first poured into the top of the huller; the hulls and excess material then travel through a pipe and are discarded outside the building. Timmer has discussed the choice of the rice hulling technology in Indonesia by analyzing the four alternative milling/storage/drying facilities that were considered by United States Agency for International Development/Jakarta and the Indonesian government in order to “modernize” the rice marketing sector. In part due to Timmer and other work, the Indonesian government chose the mechanical but less-high-technology alternative because it was economically preferable.
