An agricultural engineer is an engineer with an agriculture background. Agricultural engineers make the engineering designs and plans in an agricultural project, usually in partnership with an agriculturist who is more proficient in farming and agricultural science.
History
The first use of agricultural engineering was the introduction of irrigation in large scale agriculture in the Nile and the Euphrates rivers before 2000 B.C. Large irrigation structures were also present in Baluchistan and India before Christian era. In other parts of Asia, agricultural engineering was heavily present in China. In South America irrigation was practiced in Peru by the Incas and in North America by the Aztecs.[3]
The earliest plough was the ard or scratch-plough.[4]
The introduction of these engineering concepts into the field of agriculture allowed for an enormous boost in the productivity of crops, dubbed a "second agricultural revolution" which consisted of:[6]
Shift from peasant subsistence-farming to cash-farming for the market
Technical changes of crop rotations and livestock improvement
Agricultural engineers may perform tasks such as planning, supervising and managing the building of dairy effluent schemes, irrigation, drainage, flood water control systems, performing environmental impact assessments, agriculturalproductprocessing and interpret research results and implement relevant practices. A large percentage of agricultural engineers work in academia or for government agencies. Some are consultants, employed by private engineering firms, while others work in industry, for manufacturers of agricultural machinery, equipment, processing technology, and structures for housing livestock and storing crops. Agricultural engineers work in production, sales, management, research and development, or applied science.
Armenia
In 2006 Armenia's agricultural sector accounted for about 20 percent of the GDP. By 2010, it grew to about 25 percent.[8] This was and is higher than in Armenia's neighboring countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran, in which the contribution of agriculture to the GDP in 2017 was 6.88, 5.63, 6.08 and 9.05 percent, respectively.[9]
Philippines
In the Philippines, the professional designation is registered agricultural and biosystems engineer. They are licensed and accredited after successfully passing the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Licensure Examination. A prospective agricultural and biosystems engineer is required to have a four-year Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
The practice of agricultural and biosystems engineering also includes the following:
Consultation, valuation, investigation and management services on agricultural and biosystems engineering;
Management or supervision and the preparation of engineering designs, plans, specifications, project studies and estimates for agricultural and biosystems, aquaculture and fishery, and forest product machinery, agricultural and biosystems buildings and structures, farm electrification and energy systems, agricultural and biosystems processing equipment, irrigation and soils conservation systems and facilities, agricultural and biosystems waste utilization systems and facilities;
Conducting research and development, training and extension work, and consultancy services on agricultural and biosystems engineering facilities/services, system and technologies;
Testing, evaluation and inspection of agricultural and biosystems, fishery and forest product machinery and other related agricultural and biosystems engineering facilities and equipment.
Management, manufacturing and/or marketing of agricultural and biosystems machinery and other related agricultural and biosystems engineering facilities and equipment;
Teaching, agricultural and biosystems engineering subjects in institution of learning in the Philippines;
Employment with the government provided such item or position requires the knowledge and expertise of an agricultural and biosystems engineer.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the term agricultural engineer is often also used to describe a person that repairs or modifies agricultural equipment.
United States
The American Society of Agricultural Engineers, now known as the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), was founded in 1907.[10] It is a leading organization in the agricultural engineering field. The ASABE provides safety and regulatory standards for the agricultural industry. These standards and regulations are developed on an international scale for fertilizers, soil conditions, fisheries, biofuels, biogas, feed machinery, tractors, and machinery.[1]
^Andersen, T.B., Jensen, P.S., Skovsgaard C.S., 2016. The Heavy Plough and the Agricultural Revolution in Medieval Europe. Journal of Development Economics
^ abcH. Klaus, Milestones in the history of agricultural engineering, The world of agricultural engineering 2011
^F. M. L. Thompson (1968), The Second Agricultural Revolution, 1815-1880, The Economic History Review, Wiley
Brown, R.H. (ed). (1988). CRC handbook of engineering in agriculture. Boca Raton, FL.: CRC Press. ISBN0-8493-3860-3.
Field, H. L., Solie, J. B., & Roth, L. O. (2007). Introduction to agricultural engineering technology: a problem solving approach. New York: Springer. ISBN0-387-36913-9.
Stewart, Robert E. (1979). Seven decades that changed America: a history of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1907-1977. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASAE. OCLC5947727.
DeForest, S. S. (2007). The vision that cut drugery from farming forever. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASAE. ISBN1-892769-61-1.