Counseling Education

Advanced Education Options in Agricultural Engineering Field for a Shining Career

The agriculture sector in India contributes to 23 percent towards the Gross Domestic Product. Even with massive urbanization, 70 percent of the workforce works within the agricultural sector and its allied services like fisheries, poultry, animal husbandry and dairy farming.  In other words, Indian agriculture is a prominent sector and in the last few years, students are showing interest in agricultural engineering with the hope to contribute towards India’s future in farming. This article is a short guide to pursue agricultural engineering.

What is Agricultural Engineering?

The use of modern engineering methods, technology and inventions to maximize agricultural production is known as the study of agricultural engineering. The agricultural engineer takes into consideration existing farm patterns, bio gas production, farm machineries and devices ways to involve new farming technologies in the manufacturing of agricultural produce. The agriculturist also needs to conserve soil and water.

Eligibility Criteria

The student needs to study science at the higher secondary level. To do BE in Agricultural Engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology (preferably) are necessary. The BE course takes 4 years. Alternatively, the student can do a diploma course within 3 years. Apart from BE, B. Tech in Agriculture is also accepted.

Selection into the course is based on clearance of IIT-JEE examination for IIT’s candidates. For other institutions, there are national and state level exams.

For better career options, the student can pursue M. Tech after graduation and if possible, a Ph.D degree from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, IIT Kharagpur and other prestigious institutes will increase career prospects.

The cost of studying B.Sc. and B. Tech falls between 25,000 INR and 50,000 INR per year. M. Tech and M.Sc. costs around 40,000 INR to 50,000 INR per year.

The Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Kerala Agricultural University, College of Technology, and other Agricultural Engineering and Technology universities in Uttar Pradesh Kerala, Gujarat and Orissa offer specialization courses in agricultural engineering .

How to Begin your Career in this Field?

Your career opportunities will depend on the kind of work you wish to do. Like other industries, the agricultural field will average a growth of about 9 percent in the next couple of years. Moreover, the focus on sustainable agriculture will improve job opportunities. There is a need for agriculturists who have knowledge and sensibility towards soil preservation, newer agriculture methods and cost effective production. If your interest lies in similar fields, you will have a lot of options.

After graduation and / or post-graduation, you can apply with the Department of Agriculture. They keep on recruiting agricultural officers who are assigned districts to manage. Secondly, you can opt to work with NGOs actively involved in rural areas. Remuneration might be less with NGOs but work satisfaction is higher.

As a fresher, you can work in research labs as assistant or work as a field officer. With more experience, you can become a scientist, database specialist and business analyst.

Alternatively, some qualified agricultural engineers opt for research work with IARI. There are other institutes to work as a junior fellow researcher. As a researcher, you will work on hypothesis and work on the hypothesis to uncover ground breaking results. You can find out innovative farming methods to help farmers.

Lastly, you could become a lecturer. Appear for NET exam after completing post-graduation. NET is exempted if you have Ph.D. If you clear NET, you can apply to universities teaching agricultural engineering with NET score.

The salary scale of agricultural engineers is not fixed. Usually, the government positions will pay better than private ones. A lot depends on specialization.

Author's Bio

This guest post is contributed by Diksha. She is a Social Media Specialist in studynation also a  part time blogger. She loves to researching and exploring on best options of study in India and abroad, jobs and career in different field .

Image credit: Ian Sane on Flickr