Agricultural Engineers - Introduction and Nature of Work

Agricultural Engineering is concerned with the application of engineering principles and practices to all areas related to agriculture. It is essentially a hybrid of engineering and agricultural sciences with major engineering characteristics. Agricultural engineers apply engineering procedures to production, processing, preservation and handling of food materials. Agricultural engineering has brought about significant improvements in the methods of farming and food production. Technological advancements and continuous research in the field of design have given impetus to improvement in farm equipments, development of irrigation systems, design, construction and installation of agricultural tube wells and pumps, better and efficient food processing systems and work on land reclamation projects. Significant work in these areas has increased the demand for agricultural engineers.

Nature of Work

Agricultural engineers learn and apply the principles of engineering to work in the agricultural equipment industries, agricultural product processing industries and food industries.Their job entails developing new designs to suit the requirements of these industries. Besides developing new designs for equipments and machines used by the agriculture and food industry they coordinate work with electronic/electrical engineers for perfecting the technology of the equipments. They supervise production of agricultural equipments, machinery and machine parts. Agricultural engineers have contributed to making farming easier, energy efficient, and have made significant contribution in soil and water conservation.

Agricultural Engineers - Study and Training

Agricultural engineering can be pursued after a science option in class XII . The subjects essential for the course are Physics , Chemistry and Mathema-tics. B.Tech. course covers subjects such as Agricultural System Management, Aquacultural Engineering, Dairy & Food Engg., Irrigation & Drainage Engineering, Non Conventional Energy sources and Water Resource Development and Management including Farm Machinery and Power, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Farm Structure and Rural Electrification.

At the post graduate level non traditional subjects like Computer science, Biotechnology, Environment Engineering, Ergonomics, Operations Research, Remote Sensing, Rural Development and Waste land development etc. may be pursued.

Agricultural Engineers who are appointed for large irrigation projects or land reclamation work require a post graduate qualification in the area of specialisation or substantial work experience.

Course/Institutions

B.Tech (duration 4 years) M. Tech (11/2 years)

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi conducts an All India Examination for admission to Agricultural colleges (B.Tech. courses) all over the country. Some seats on all India basis in Agricultural Engineering colleges in all the states are filled on merit obtained in this examination.

Eligibility criteria and admission procedures for admission to graduate
degree courses through IIT JEE/AIEEE have been discussed in the chapter 'Engineering & Technology'. Graduate engineers with a GATE score can seek admission to postgraduate programmes.

Graduate/Postgraduate courses in agricultural engineering/allied branches

Institution/University Seats Course

Eastern Region

West Bengal

Indian Institute of Technology, 26 B. Tech., Agril & Food Engg.

Kharagpur-721302 M.Tech. 5 yrs. dual degree

Agril & Food Engg.

M. Tech. in Farm Machi-
nery Power, Soil and
Water Conservation Engg,
Dairy/Food Engg, Water
resources dev and Acqua-
cultural Engg. Agril system

Post Harvest Engg.

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vidyalaya,

Faculty of Agricultural Engg, Mohanpur, 15 B. Tech Agri. Engineering

Nadia 741252

Bihar

Rajendra Agricultural University College of 25 B.Tech. (Agri Engg)

Agricultural Engineering, Samastipur, M. Tech in Soil Water,

Pusa-848125, Farms machinery, Post

Harvest Tech.

Orissa

Orissa University of Agricultural & Technology

College of Agricultural Engg & Technology, 60 B.Tech Agri Engg

Bhubaneshwar 751003 M.Tech Agri Engg

Northern Region

Madhya Pradesh

Jawahar Lal Nehru University

College of Agricultural Engineering, Adhartal 40* B. Tech. (Agri Engg)

Jabalpur-482004 M.Tech

Mahatma Gandhi Gramoday Vishwavidyala

Institute of People’s Science and Tech., 30 each B.Tech. Food Tech. & Agril,

Chitrakoot 485331 Distt. Satna (MP) Tech.

Uttar Pradesh

GB Pant Universtiy College of Tech., Pantnagar-263145, 45 B. Tech. Agri. Engg.

Dist Udham, Singh Nagar (Selection AIEEE)

M. Tech., Farm machinery

& Power engg., Soil &

Water conservation Engg.,

Irrigation and drainage

engg., post harvest process

& Food Engg. & Food &

Biotech.

Shivdan Singh Institute of Technology & 40 BE 4 yrs.

Management, Aligarh - 202124

Chandra Shekhar Azad University, 60 B. Tech. Agri. Engg.

B.R. Ambedkar Engg. College,

Agra Road, Etawah 260001

Haryana

Chaudhry Charan Singh Agricultural University 30 B.Tech, Agri, Engg.

College of Agricultural M.Tech, Agri. Processing,

Engineering Hissar 125004 Energy, Farm Power,

Machinery, Soil Water

Engg.

Punjab

Punjab Agricultuaral University

College of Agricultural Engineering, 50 B. Tech.

Ludhiana-141004 M. Tech. & Ph.D

Punjab University, Department of Chemical 20 BE Agroprocessing Tech.
Engg. & Tech., Chandigarh 600014

Western Region

Gujarat

Gujarat Agricultural University

College of Agricultural Engineering & 50 B. Tech. (Agri Engg.)

Technology, Junagarh-362001 M. Tech., Farm machinery

& Power Engg.,

Irrigation & water mgmt.

Soil & Water conservation

Agri. processing & Food

Engg. renewable energy

resources.

Sheth M.C College of Dairy Science 40 B.Sc Dairy Tech

Anand Campus, Anand 388001 M.Sc Dairying

Rajasthan

Rajasthan Agricultural University

College of Technology and Engineering, 47 B.E. (Agri Engg)

Udaipur-313001 B.Tech (Dairy Tech.)

M.E., Farm machinery &

Power Engg., Irrigation &

water mgnt,, soil & water

conservation, Agri, proce-

ssing & Food engg.,

renewable energy

resources.

Maharashtra

Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth

College of Agricultural Engg. & Food Technology, 30 B. Tech. Agril. Engg.

Parbhani-431402 35 B.Tech. (Food Sc.)

Mahatma Phule Krishi VidyaPeeth

Agricultural Engg College 50 B.Tech

Rahuri 413722, Ahmednagar M.Tech. Agril. Process

Global Career Challenges - in the Businesses of Food, Land and Agricultural Management

Some forecasters are estimating a worldwide population explosion with an increase from the current 2.3 billion people to eight billion by the year 2020. This would mean that agriculture will need to produce as much in the next 25 years as it has produced in the last 10,000 years, to meet the inevitable soaring worldwide food demands.

It will not be an easy task - water requirements are set to double and top soil is being lost at a rate of around seven per cent per decade.

The main challenge will be to provide enough food without further damage to the environment and against a background of increasing difficulties due to the climatic change and the diminution and pollution of water supplies.

To meet this challenge, highly qualified and motivated professionals, armed with modern marketing, business and communication skills are essential. However, those with more traditional agricultural and land management training will also be required to back them up.

Britain’s agricultural colleges and universities offer an extensive range of courses - from rural skills training to degrees in agricultural business and land management, and beyond to postgraduate level studies.

Finding the right course is crucial and anyone wishing to join the land-based industries should carefully explore the opportunities available to them. A practical short course or diploma might be a good option for a student wishing to return to the family farm while someone seeking a career in agricultural consultancy would benefit from a degree level course followed by a specialised postgraduate study programme. Many agricultural colleges have formal links with institutions in mainland Europe and as far as Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, allowing students to explore and compare differing approaches to farming.

Above all, candidates should aim to choose a course from which they will gain enjoyment in which they are at ease. Most, if not all, agricultural colleges are in a rural setting and offer a wealth of opportunities to students from urban backgrounds as well as those who come from the rural environment.

Just some of the course opportunities include equine management, animal science, horticulture, land management, rural estate management, international agribusiness, agricultural business management, ecology and rural development. Preferred A’levels usually include one or more of the sciences and geography and work experience in a relevant area is a added bonus.

Commenting on the range of opportunities, Principle of the Royal Agricultural College Professor Barry Dent said "As we move into the new century, I am convinced that really exciting careers will open up with technical and business challenges to be overcome, careers in production, in business support and finance, in marketing, in environmental management co-ordination, in technology transfer, in importing and exporting, in international co-ordination , in developing new business enterprises, in land and estate management and in chartered surveying".

Young people who are concerned about the environment, about the safety of our food or who simply enjoy the prospect of working in the land-based sector will benefit from the study at one of Britain’s agricultural tarinign institutions. The career opportunities are endless and colleges such as the Royal Agricultural College, which draws upon a network of more than 10,000 former students start out on successful careers.

Agricultural Engineering - Do you want a challenge?

For those with an interest in both the physical and the natural sciences agricultural engineering will be worth considering as a career choice, particularly if you have a practical approach to problem solving and like a challenge in your work.

A greater awareness of damage to the natural environment by some of our current farming methods, which are extravagant in the use of energy and degrade the soil, will demand more imaginative solutions to the problem of meeting the global demand for food, fibres and industrial organics in the future.

Agricultural engineers working in conjunction with agronomists, geneticists, microbiologists and other specialists will develop many of these solutions.

It is often the agricultural engineer who has the responsibility for bringing the results of scientific research within the reach of the farmer. Some of the new technology introduces fundamental changes to the lives of traditional farmers and their families. This happens particularly in areas where a high proportion of the population is engaged in agriculture or where a large proportion of the income of a region is generated from agriculture. Therefore the agricultural engineer has to be aware of the social consequences of his work.

Maintaining the worlds' food supplies is a vital and increasingly demanding job with an ever-increasing number of human mouths to feed.

Agricultural engineers are involved in many interesting activities. These require a thorough training in a wide range of skills, which combine engineering, agriculture, business and social studies.

Some examples of the type of projects in which agricultural engineers are engaged are listed below:

• The development of machines for use in crop production from soil preparation through to harvest.
  
  
• The design of crop storage structures in which special combinations of temperature, humidity and modified atmosphere can be maintained.
  
  
• The design of water conservation, irrigation and drainage schemes.
  
  
• The planning of soil conservation schemes.
  
  
• The planning of livestock buildings and the associated equipment for efficient production whilst paying due attention to animal welfare and hygiene.
  
  
• The creation of habitats for wildlife.
  
  
• The reinstatement of land that has been used for mineral extraction, or other industrial purposes, for agriculture or amenity use.
  
  
• The design and development of machinery and sustainable systems for forestry.

Agricultural engineering may be studied at several levels from craft through technician, technologist to graduate and postgraduate. Courses at all levels are available in UK, the USA and many other countries.

Because of the wide variety of activities associated with agricultural engineering it is obvious that at some stage there must be some specialisation. This usually happens at the undergraduate stage when the student finds that one subject area is more interesting.

This, on graduation, can either lead to employment in the area of interest or to a specialist postgraduate course, of which there a number available. In many cases the opportunity to study at postgraduate level does not occur until after some years in employment. This can be a very valuable aid to career development.

Working as an agricultural engineer provides a challenging career with the potential to provide a great variety of interesting activities likely to be of benefit to ones fellow men.