In this paper, a study of convective mass transfer coefficient and rate of moisture removal from cabbage and peas for open sun drying and inside greenhouse drying has been performed as a function of climatic parameters. The hourly data for the rate of moisture removal, crop temperature, relative humidity inside and outside the greenhouse and ambient air temperature for complete drying have been recorded. The experiments were conducted after the crop harvesting season from September to December 2001. These data were used for determination of the coefficient of convective mass transfer and then for development of the empirical relation of convective mass transfer coefficient with drying time under natural and forced modes. The empirical relations with convective mass transfer for open and greenhouse drying have been compared. The convective mass transfer coefficient was lower for drying inside the greenhouse with natural mode as compared to open sun drying. Its value was doubled under the forced mode inside the greenhouse drying compared to natural convection in the initial stage of drying. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.