Thin layer drying experiments of bagasse were carried out to determine the drying kinetics and also to identify a suitable drying model. The drying experiments were conducted in a laboratory scale dryer for a wide range of air temperatures (80-120 degrees C), velocities (0.5-2 m/s), humidity level of air (9-24 g water(kg of d.a)(-1)) and product thickness (20-60 mm). Air temperature, velocity, humidity and mass of product were recorded continuously during experimentation. The data were fitted to the different semi-theoretical or empirical models and compared based on their correlation coefficient (r), chi-square (chi(2)), root mean square error and mean bias error values. Among the models considered, the Page model gave accurate predictions with a correlation coefficient of 0.99627. It is found that the drying of bagasse takes place only in the falling rate period, even though the product has high initial moisture content. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.