Career in agricultural engg.

I am an intermediate second year student (MPBC). What is the scope and area of specialization in agricultural engineering? Could you let me know which colleges are offering this stream and also give me an overview of what exactly an agricultural engineer does? -Ravi Krishna, Mehboobnagar

Agricultural engineering deals with the application of engineering principles to:

• Efficient production and processing of food
• The conservation of water, soil, seed, fuel, pesticides and forest resources and
• The management of natural resources An agricultural engineer applies his knowledge of biology and various engineering disciplines – (mainly chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering), plant biology, environmental sciences, soil sciences, animal sciences and much more to make farming easier, efficient and profitable.

They find better ways to reduce crop loss from field damage, during handling, sorting, packing and processing and it is him who plans the heating, cooling, ventilation, postharvest handling, logistics and more. They supervise production for new strings of plants, improve crop and livestock production, improve food-processing techniques, design structures and facilities like barns, garages, or other buildings used for growing crops, storing the harvested crops, and raising livestock all that improves crops and livestock productions.

Depending on their area of specialty, they end up working in a forest, laboratory, or design office or on a farm or research station. The different areas of specialization in agricultural engineering are:

Irrigation and Drainage systems: This includes the systems of irrigation such as, micro-irrigation systems; mechanized irrigation; surface irrigation; and also deals with hydrology and farm dam design; canal, pipeline and pump systems; sprinklers etc.

Agricultural Machinery Design: This deals with assisting the farmers with the designing of agricultural equipments and development of new machinery, tractor and other engine tests, agricultural energy research and consultation, and the planning and evaluation of the mechanization systems.

Soil and Water conservation: Deals with the specially adapted farming practices to enhance soil conservation and planning and designing systems for safe discharge of flood water and conservation and reclaiming structures.

Poultry, Fish and fibre processing: This involves guiding the entrepreneurs in drying, mixing, compacting, milling, cooling, heating, etc of agricultural products. Storage, packing and transportation of food products such as fruit, vegetables and meat

Agricultural buildings and structures: Deals with the buildings for the storage and processing of food products; designing comfortable houses for animals, taking into account their well-being and the need for productivity; buildings with controlled environment such as for green and glass houses, aquaculture and nurseries; buildings for the rigorous production of meat, eggs, dairy products and poultry.

Agricultural engineers who are more interested in areas that deal with electrification will have a different task. Their daily duties may consist of work that helps with the improvement of electric power. The other specialized fields are: Dairy Management, Agricultural Economics, Post-Harvest Technology and Agricultural Waste Management

Being one of the top agricultural countries in the globe and with the growth in the world’s population and the commercialization of horticulture and agriculture, the need for agricultural engineers is increasing in both the private and government sector. For the improvement of agriculture in the districts the state government hires agricultural engineers as agricultural officers. Private organizations which deal with: Medicinal crops and plantation crops; Agricultural remedies, Manufacturing of farm equipment and supplies; hire agricultural engineers.

Employment opportunities lie with companies such as:

Amul Mother Dairy

Tea Gardens

Consultancies

NGO’s

Agricultural Universities

Agricultural machinery manufacturing organizations

Food Corporation of India

National Seeds Corporations

NABARD and other banks

Agricultural finance corporations

Nestle

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

Food Corporation of India

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

National Seeds Corporations

Some of the top institutes that offers courses in agricultural engineering are:

Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, offers B Tech and M Tech in agricultural engineering

Kakinada Institute of Technology and Science offers, BE/BTech and ME or MTech

Kerala Agricultural University offers, BE/BTech and ME or MTech

School of Computing Vignan University, Guntur offers BE/BTech and ME or MTech

Central Institute of Agricultural engineering, Bhopal offers BE/BTech

ACN College of Engineering and Management studies, Aligarh offers, BE/BTech

Tamilnadu Agricultural University,Coimbatore offers BTech

IIT Khargpur offers BTech in Agicultural and Food Engineering

Anna University, Chennai offers BE in Agricultural and Irrigation engineering

College of Engineering, Guindy offers BE in Agricultural and Irrigation engineering

Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedker Marathawada University offers BE in Agricultural Engineering

KLR College of Engineering and Technology offers a BE

Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya offers a BE

Refer site http://www.minglebox.com/engineering/colleges/category/agricultural-engineering/page/2 for additional information on institutes offering this course.

By:Shehre Banu Kagalwala