Agricultural Engineering

What is Agricultural Engineering?

You may have known various types of engineering. But have you ever come across Agricultural Engineering? With growing mechanization in the Agriculture sector, newfound opportunities are emerging for agricultural engineers.

Agricultural Engineering deals with Agricultural production and processing. It combines the principles of various fields such as mechanical, civil, electrical, food science and chemical engineering along with the knowledge of Agricultural principles and technological practices.

The best way to describe A.E is a well-rounded engineering degree. You get the opportunity to specialize in hydraulics, machinery designs, biofuels, etc.

What does an Agricultural Engineer do?

• An Agricultural Engineer job is to create the required specifications, drawings, prototypes, and designs.

• Make calculations to check designs, parts, materials, and needs.

• Agricultural Engineers have to work across departments to ensure the standard of materials, sizes, designs, and schedules align.

• Testing and inspecting different projects related to the field, identifying problems and making improvements and help in resolving problems.

What is the Admission and Eligibility Criteria?

• To pursue an Undergraduate (UG) engineering degree, you should have passed 10+2 in science stream (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and preferably Biology) from a recognized board.

• To get into top engineering colleges offering Agricultural Engineering programs such as IITs and NITs, you need to appear for JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and fill the required eligibility criteria (performance in the class 12/equivalent qualifying Examination and the Joint Entrance Examination).

• Independent entrance tests for Agricultural Engineering are also held by the various state, central, and private universities which mostly require 50% as the prerequisite to appear for the test. (minimum percentage may vary in case of reserved and girl candidates and college requirements).

• Postgraduates can appear for Agricultural Research Service Exam conducted by Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board to become scientists.

• After qualifying NET (Post Graduate) you can pursue teaching at colleges and universities as a lecturer.

• You can also pursue doctoral studies (PhD) after completing your post-graduation

PostGraduate: A Bachelor's degree (B.E or B. Tech) in Agricultural Engineering along with a good score in entrance tests such as GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and other entrance tests held by the various state, central, and private universities are required.

Best colleges offering Agricultural Engineering courses are IIT Kharagpur; National Dairy Research Institute; ICAR (Indian Agricultural Research Institute); Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology; Tamil Nadu Agricultural University; Punjab Agricultural University.

Popular colleges for Agricultural Engineering are Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University;

Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar; University of Agricultural Sciences; Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai; Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences

What are the skills required?

You get to learn most of the skills for the job during your education, however, there are few skills one must have:-

• Sound knowledge of mathematics

• Analytical thinking skills

• Paying attention to details

• Passion for machines

What is the cost associated?

The cost of pursuing an engineering program depends upon the type of college you are opting for Government Engineering colleges cost less than the private ones as they are subsidized. The cost also varies from institute to institute. To get an idea, we have mentioned the fees of a few colleges.

• Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences: Btech Agricultural Engineering (464,000 +10,000 Rs for full program).

• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University: Btech program fees (484,800 Rs approx).

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What are the Top Job Profiles after Agricultural Engineering?

• Agricultural Officer

• Quality Assurance Officer

• Farm Manager

• Research Engineer

• Process Manager

• Purchase Manager

What is the Scope of Agricultural Engineering?

• Jobs in tractor-manufacturers, irrigation companies, fertilizer and seed companies, and dairy farms.

• State agriculture departments recruit Agriculture Engineers at district and sub-district levels for processing, farm mechanisation, etc.

• Postgraduates can appear for Agricultural Research Service Exam conducted by Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board to become scientists.

• After qualifying NET (Post Graduate) you can pursue teaching at colleges and universities as a lecturer.

• You can also pursue doctoral studies (PhD) after completing your post-graduation

How much you can expect to earn?

• Avg. Salary in India - Rs 495,344

• Avg. Entry-level Salary (less than 1 year) - Rs 305,209

• Avg. Early Career Salary (1-4 years) - Rs. 5000,198

• Mid Career Salary (5-9 years) - Rs 1000000

Source: Payscale (All salaries are per annum).

Who are the Top Recruiters?

Top recruiters are AMUL Dairy, Nestle India, Frigorifico Allana, ITC, Farming Industry Consultants, Agricultural Commodities Processors, Escorts, Proagro Seed, PRADAN, Advanta Limited, Godrej Agrovet Limited, Lemken India Agro Equipment Pvt. Ltd., Monsanto Holding Private Limited.

How to prepare and what are the study material and books available?

• Mock tests available online

• NCERT syllabus of class 11th and 12th

• Study material available by prestigious institutes

• Study material available by prestigious institutes

• Consult your seniors (who have already given such exams) for guidance

• Previous year question papers

Some popular books are O.P. Tandon for Physical Chemistry, P.Bahadur (G.R.Bathla & Sons) for Numerical chemistry. Concept of Physics by HC Verma (Vol 1, Vol 2); Problems In General Physics by IE Irodov. IIT Mathematics, M.L. Khanna; Trigonometry, S L Loney; Calculus & Analytic Geometry, Thomas & Finney.

Interesting Facts

Norman Borlaug was MS Swaminathan’s inspiration who is also known as the father of the Green Revolution in India.