1. **Problem statement:** We need to find the mass of freshly harvested paddy with 20% moisture content (wet basis) required to obtain 8000 kg of paddy with 12% moisture content (dry basis). 2. **Understanding moisture content:** - Moisture content on dry basis (db) is defined as $\text{MC}_{db} = \frac{\text{mass of water}}{\text{mass of dry solids}}$. - Moisture content on wet basis (wb) is defined as $\text{MC}_{wb} = \frac{\text{mass of water}}{\text{mass of wet sample}}$. 3. **Convert 12% db to wet basis:** Given $\text{MC}_{db} = 0.12$, then $$\text{MC}_{wb} = \frac{\text{MC}_{db}}{1 + \text{MC}_{db}} = \frac{0.12}{1 + 0.12} = \frac{0.12}{1.12} \approx 0.1071$$ So, 12% db corresponds to approximately 10.71% wb. 4. **Calculate dry solids in required paddy:** Dry solids mass = $\frac{\text{mass of paddy}}{1 + \text{MC}_{db}} = \frac{8000}{1 + 0.12} = \frac{8000}{1.12} \approx 7142.86$ kg. 5. **Calculate mass of freshly harvested paddy (20% wb) needed:** Let $x$ = mass of freshly harvested paddy. Dry solids in freshly harvested paddy = $x \times (1 - 0.20) = 0.8x$. Since dry solids remain constant, $$0.8x = 7142.86 \implies x = \frac{7142.86}{0.8} = 8928.57 \text{ kg}$$ 6. **Final answer:** Approximately 8929 kg of freshly harvested paddy with 20% moisture content (wet basis) must be procured to obtain 8000 kg of paddy with 12% moisture content (dry basis).