Individual Rice Kernel Moisture Content Variability Trends

Variation in individual kernel moisture content (MC) distributions in rice panicles were measured for rice cultivars Bengal, Cypress, and Drew. Rice panicles were harvested at different stages of maturity from foundation seed fields at two locations with widely varying soils in Arkansas during the autumns of 1998, 1999, and 2000. The objective was to quantify variability of individual rice kernel MCs as affected by maturity, planting location, and year. Individual kernel MC distributions were multi-modal until the average harvest MC (HMC) reached about 16%, at which point the distributions tended to be primarily single-modal. For all cultivars, HMC significantly affected kernel MC standard deviation (SD). For Cypress and Drew, individual kernel MC SD was also significantly affected by year and location with significant interactions between HMC and year and HMC and location. Regression equations that accounted for the variation in individual kernel MC at varying kernel maturity stages were generated for each cultivar.