Designing drying service centre (DSC) to support soybean self-sufficiency (Gemapalagung)

English. One of the constrains to increase soybean production in dry land area through soybean self-sufficiency program called Gemapalagung is lack of drying service for soybean harvested at rainy season. Delaying soybean drying process for 4 days at grain moisture content of 35 percent wet basis (wb) cause grain damage up to 48 percent due to the mold development. Meanwhile, average farm size holding which is less than 1.0 ha is not appropriate for mechanizing soybean production system. Therefore, it is imperative to develop drying service centre for soybean (DSC) that can give added-value for village cooperative (KUD), farmers involved in soybean agro-based industry, and maintain soybean grain quality standard (grain damage less than 3 percent). The objective of this study is to design DSC with capacity of 15-18 t soybean per day (from grain moisture content 35 percent wb to 17 percent wb) that can give drying service to 50-75 farmers per season. The designing process was done in 1999 at Mechanization Laboratory of RILET (Reserach Institute for Legumes Tuber Crop) in East Java. The prototype DSC was designed using rice husk and solar energy. By using these renewable energy sources, the operational sustainability of DSC at farm level can be maintained. Depending on the budged available, the research was conducted step by step. In the first step, DSC capacity was designed only for 4.8 t/day. Based on the first performance tested, it was concluded that technically the prototype DSC can be operated for soybean drying service at farm level (KUD) although its performance were not optimum

Indonesian. Salah satu kendala untuk memacu peningkatan produksi kedelai melalui program Gemapalagung di lahan kering adalah waktu panen yang jatuh pada musim hujan. Akibatnya, sering terjadi penundaan pengeringan kedelai. Penundaan pengeringan kedelai brangkasan kadar air awal 35 persen basis basah (bb) selama 4 hari dapat menyebabkan biji rusak sampai 48 persen akibat busuk dan berjamur. Sementara itu, rata-rata luas pemilikan lahan yang sempit (lebih kecil dari 1,0 ha) dengan tata ruang yang terpencar menjadi kendala mengembangkan sistem penjualan jasa pengering (SIPUJA). Untuk itu perlu direkayasa bangsal pengeringan kedelai energi surya dan sekam (BAPES) yang kapasitas pengeringannya 15-18 t kedelai brangkasan per hari (dari kadar air 35 persen bb menjadi 17 persen bb) atau mampu melayani sekitar 50-75 orang petani per musim. Di samping mendukung upaya pemenuhan standar mutu biji kedelai (biji rusak lebih kecil dari 3 persen) yang menjamin harga jual yang layak bagi petani dan keberlanjutan pasok bahan baku bagi agroindustri kedelai, tersedianya BAPES dapat menambah pendapatan petani atau KUD penjual jasa pengeringan. Sesuai ketersediaan dana penelitian, rekayasa BAPES dilakukan secara bertahap. Pada penelitian tahap I (1999), prototipe BAPES yang direkayasa kapasitasnya baru mencapai 4,8 t kedelai brangkasan/hari. Dari hasil evaluasi kinerja BAPES dapat disimpulkan bahwa secara fungsional bangsal pengering yang direkayasa, dapat dioperasikan di tingkat KUD untuk proses pengeringan kedelai brangkasan saat panen musim hujan, meskipun kinerjanya masih belum optimum