Rice hulls (or rice husks) are the hard protecting coverings of grains of rice.

In addition to protecting rice during the growing season, rice hulls can be put to use as building material, fertilizer, insulation material, or fuel. Production[ Rice hulls are the coatings of seeds, or grains, of rice. To protect the seed during the growing season, the hull is formed from hard materials, including opaline silica and lignin. The hull is mostly indigestible to humans.Winnowing, used to separate the rice from hulls, is to put the whole rice into a pan and throw it into the air while the wind blows. The light hulls are blown away while the heavy rice fall back into the pan. Later pestles and a simple machine called a rice pounder were developed to remove hulls. In 1885 the modern rice hulling machine was invented in Brazil. During the milling processes, the hulls are removed from the raw grain to reveal whole brown rice, which may then sometimes be milled further to remove the bran layer, resulting in white rice. Use[ The temples of the Batujaya Archaeological Site in Indonesia (5th century AD) were built with bricks containing rice hulls.Research is being conducted in a number of rice-producing countries (e.g. Thailand) on industrial uses of this agricultural byproduct. Building material[edit]Rice hulls are a class A thermal insulating material because they are difficult to burn and less likely to allow moisture to propagate mold or fungi. It has been found that when burned, rice hulls produce significant amounts of silica. Rice Husk Ash is a potential source of amorphous reactive silica. If burnt completely, the ash can have a blaine no. of as much as 3,600 compared to the blaine no. of cement between 2,800 to 3,000, meaning it is finer than cement. Silica is the Fertilizer and substrate[edit]Rice hulls can be composted, but their high lignin content can make this a slow process. Sometimes earthworms are used to accelerate the process. Using vermicomposting techniques, hulls can be converted to fertilizer in about four months.Rice hulls that are parboiled (PBH) are used as a substrate or medium for gardening, including certain hydrocultures. The hulls decay over time. Rice hulls allow drainage,[3] and retain less water than growstones.[4] It has been shown that rice hulls do not affect plant growth regulation.[3]Fireworks[edit] Rice hulls are coated with fine-grained gunpowder and used as the main bursting charge in aerial fireworks shells.Fuel[edit] With proper techniques, rice hulls can be burned and used to power steam engines. Some rice mills originally disposed of hulls in this way.[citation needed] Unfortunately the direct combustion of rice hulls produces large quantities of smoke. An alternative is to Gasification. Rice hulls are easily gasified in top-lit updraft gasifiers. The combustion of this rice hull gas produces a blue flame, and rice hull biochar makes a good soil amendment.[5]Mitani, Namiki; Jian Feng Ma, Takashi Iwashita (2005). "Identification of the silicon form in xylem sap of rice (Oryza sativa L.)". Plant Cell Physiol. 46 (2): 279283.doi:10.1093/pcp/pci018. PMID 15695469. Retrieved 2008-05-05. Ma, Jian Feng; Kazunori Tamai, Naoki Yamaji, Namiki Mitani, Saeko Konishi, Maki Katsuhara, Masaji Ishiguro, Yoshiko Murata, Masahiro Yano (2006). "A silicon transporter in rice". Nature440 (7084): 688691. doi:10.1038/nature04590. PMID 16572174 Rice Hull Biorecycling in Rocha, Uruguay Rice is the principal crop in the North Region of Rocha Municipality, and is produced in 55% of the Biosphere Reserve. After processing, the rice industry produces about 143,000 metric tons of rice hulls per year in the region. This crop residue is not utilized, and in most cases is burned. During 1994 and 1995, PROBIDES(Biodiversity of Conservancy and Development Sustainable Program at East's Wetlands of Uruguay) conducted several experiments to obtain organic fertilizers by rice hull composting and vermicomposting, and to evaluate the effect of adding different sources of nitrogen and inoculum. The duration of this process was about 4 months. Using standard composting methods, rice hull degradation was not total, whereas in the vermicompost, rice hulls lost their structure.

Worms can play a key role in rice hull decomposition, as rice hulls can be difficult to compost, with their high C:N ratio (~70), their high cellulose and lignin content, and their waxy surface cover that impedes microbial attack, due to its low capacity to absorb water. Using composts made by mixing rice hulls with manure contributes micronutrients and improves soil structure (more water and air retention). This is a good example of crop residue utilization and its transformation into a resource. Rice hulls, with their high lignin and cellulose content are a source of the precursors of humus, the organic matter component with the most stability and nutrient availability. At this time, people are adopting rice hull composting practices to obtain organic fertilizers, which are sold in this region for application in gardens, homegardens, parks, etc. This organic fertilizer is sold in bags made from recycled paper.