Agricultural Engineering is the area of engineering concerned with the design, construction and improvement of farming equipment and machinery. Agricultural engineers integrate technology with farming. For example, they design new and improved farming equipment that may work more efficiently, or perform new tasks.
Agricultural engineering is the branch of engineering that applied engineering science disciplines and technology practices to the efficient production and processing of food, feed, fiber and fuels.
In India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi through its Agricultural Engineering Division engaged to plan, coordinate, and monitor R&D programmes and serve as an information repository in Agricultural Engineering. It is involved in development and demonstration of technologies related to mechanization of production and post-production agriculture using conventional and non-conventional energy sources and includes mechanization of irrigation and drainage activities; and post-harvest and value addition of agricultural products and by products. It has six institutes, six AICRPs, three AINPs, five CRPs, and 36 EMF Research Projects under its jurisdiction.
Agricultural engineers may engage in any of the following areas:
- design of agricultural machinery, equipment, and agricultural structures
- internal combustion engines as applied to agricultural machinery
- agricultural resource management (including land use and water use)
- water management, conservation, and storage for crop irrigation and livestock production
- surveying and land profiling
- climatology and atmospheric science
- soil management and conservation, including erosion and erosion control
- seeding, tillage, harvesting, and processing of crops
- livestock production, including poultry, fish, and dairy animals
- waste management, including animal waste, agricultural residues, and fertilizer runoff
- food engineering and the processing of agricultural products
- basic principles of circuit analysis, as applied to electrical motors
- physical and chemical properties of materials used in, or produced by, agricultural production
- bio-resource engineering, which uses machines on the molecular level to help the environment.
- Design of experiments related to crop and animal production
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