Recovery is the single number that decides whether a rice mill makes money. A one-percent gain in milling recovery on a mill processing thousands of quintals is real profit — and a one-percent unexplained loss is money walking out of the gate. This guide explains exactly how to calculate rice mill yield and recovery, what a good figure looks like, and why tracking it per batch (not just at year end) is where mills find their margin.
What "recovery" actually means
Milling recovery is the share of your paddy input that comes out as sellable rice. There are two figures every miller should track, and they are not the same:
- Total milling recovery — all milled rice (whole + broken) as a percentage of paddy.
- Head rice recovery — only the whole, unbroken grains as a percentage of paddy. Head rice sells for far more than broken, so this is your quality number.
The difference between the two is your broken-rice percentage. A mill can have a healthy total recovery but a poor head-rice figure if the paddy is over-dried or the machines are misadjusted — and it will quietly lose money on every batch.
The formulas
The maths is simple; the discipline is in measuring it accurately.
Total milling recovery (%) = (total white rice output ÷ paddy input) × 100
Head rice recovery (%) = (whole-grain rice output ÷ paddy input) × 100
A worked example
Feed 1,000 kg of paddy into a milling run and collect the output:
| Output | Weight | As % of paddy |
|---|---|---|
| Head (whole) rice | 620 kg | 62% (head rice recovery) |
| Broken rice | 60 kg | 6% |
| Total milled rice | 680 kg | 68% (total recovery) |
| Bran | 80 kg | 8% |
| Husk | 200 kg | 20% |
| Moisture loss / dust | 40 kg | 4% |
Here total recovery is 68% and head rice is 62% — a broken-rice gap of 6%. The by-products (bran, husk, broken) are not waste; they are a second revenue stream you should be accounting for separately (more on that in our by-product accounting guide).
What is a good recovery?
Benchmarks for non-basmati milling on clean, correctly conditioned paddy:
- Total milled rice recovery: 67–72%.
- Head rice recovery: 60–66%.
- Poorly fissured, cracked, or over-dried paddy can pull total yield below 60% — a large, avoidable loss.
Note that under India's Custom Milled Rice (CMR) system, millers are obligated to deliver a fixed out-turn (67% rice against allotted paddy for KMS 2024–25). If your actual recovery runs below the government's assumed rate, you absorb the shortfall — which is exactly why measuring your real recovery matters. See our guide to the CMR process.
How to measure it accurately (not guess it)
Daily production totals are too noisy to trust for recovery — stock movements, mixed lots, and moisture changes hide the real number. To get a figure you can act on:
- Run a controlled test batch of a known, precisely weighed quantity (100 kg is a practical test size) of a single paddy variety.
- Weigh every output stream: head rice, broken, bran, husk, and the balance (moisture/dust).
- Record the paddy's moisture and variety — the same machine gives very different recovery on 17% vs 22% moisture paddy.
- Compare planned vs actual extraction for each run, and break it down by machine, shift, operator, and paddy lot.
Why per-batch tracking finds hidden money
Recovery calculated once a year tells you nothing you can fix. Recovery calculated per milling batch — tagged to the paddy lot, variety, moisture, machine, and shift — shows you which lots, which operators, and which settings are costing you rice. That is a data problem, and it is exactly what a purpose-built rice-mill ERP handles automatically.
Track recovery on every batch, automatically
Millingo, Svasamm's rice-mill ERP, computes recovery for each milling batch from your gate weights and outputs, books bran/husk/broken as separate stock, and flags lots running below your target — so a 1% loss shows up the same day, not at audit. See Millingo → or get a free consultation.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good milling recovery for a rice mill?
On clean, correctly moisturised paddy, expect 67–72% total milled rice recovery and 60–66% head rice. Below 60% total usually signals moisture, fissuring, or machine-adjustment problems.
How do you calculate paddy-to-rice conversion ratio?
Total recovery (%) = (total white rice ÷ paddy input) × 100. So 1,000 kg paddy yielding 680 kg rice is 68%.
Why is my head rice recovery low even when total recovery looks fine?
A good total recovery with low head rice means a high broken-rice share — usually over-dried or cracked paddy, or milling adjustment. Since head rice sells for much more than broken, this quietly erodes margin even when the total number looks acceptable.