How To Become an Agricultural Engineer: Career Guide, Courses, Jobs, Salary, Scope

Steps to Become an Agricultural Engineer

For choosing a career, one must follow many steps to gain success in the career. Below are some of the steps that must be followed to gain success in an agricultural engineering career.

• Step 1 – Decision Making: While making decisions for choosing an agricultural engineering career, students need to research the availability of colleges, jobs and placements, salary range, etc. if students are satisfied with the information gained from the research, they can choose the career for their future.
• Step 2 – Subject Choices: Students need to choose certain subject combinations to choose a career. The subject combination that students can choose during school level for agricultural engineering career are, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. These subjects will help students to choose agricultural engineering as a career. These subjects will make a student eligible to opt for a career after higher secondary studies.
• Step 3 – Entrance Exam Preparation: There are different preparation tips that a student can follow to crack the examination. Below are some tips that can help students in cracking the agricultural engineering entrance examination. Different entrance examinations are held for agricultural engineering admissions. Some entrance examinations are held for a particular state, some are held for a particular college and some are held at a national level for different colleges. Students need to choose the entrance examination accordingly. Students who want to study in a particular college must choose an entrance exam that includes that particular college. Students who want to study in a particular state must choose an examination of that particular state. After choosing the entrance exam, students should prepare for the entrance test according to the syllabus. Different online and offline portals provide the study classes for different entrance examinations. Students can join these portals to prepare for the entrance examination. During the preparation, students must solve the question papers of previously conducted entrance examinations for agricultural engineering. This will help students gain confidence in solving the question paper and will also help in time management. For admission to the UG course of agricultural engineering, the test scores required are JEE Mains, ICAR AIEEA, EAMCET, OUATET, BCECE, KCET. And for admission to PG agricultural engineering courses, the scores required are: ICAR AIEEA, GATE, VITMEE, UPSEE, PG CET
• Step 4 – Selecting the Correct College: To choose the college for agricultural engineering, one may consider different factors like location, course fee, academic quality, the reputation of the college, placements in college, etc. students can also research different websites. This will help students find the correct college for their agricultural engineering career. Students can choose colleges offering the course in their state, students can choose a college with good ratings, qualities, faculty, and results. Students can choose colleges according to their financial status. Students who need a job after completion, of course, can choose a college with good placement results.

Types of Agricultural Engineers

There are different types of agricultural engineers having different duties. Types of agricultural engineers are mentioned below.

Agricultural Inspectors

The role of an agricultural inspector is to ensure that the business complies with the rules and regulations of the government. They control the quality of agricultural products. They inspect different agricultural products to maintain quality standards.

Agricultural Specialists

Agricultural specialists research different crops, farms, collect data and use the collected data to ensure the best agricultural productions by advising farmers and livestock producers. They also make relationships with other industries and also support land conservation steps.

Agronomists

Agronomists use their skills to utilize plants for food, fuel, feed, etc. they utilize their knowledge and tools in irrigation and drainage system, plant breeding, weed, and pest control, plant diseases, etc.

Agricultural equipment and machinery engineers

These types of engineers are responsible for the design and maintenance of the machinery, structures, and equipment used in farming and other agricultural activities. They utilize their knowledge in machines and tools used in production, harvesting, and care of farm products.

How to become an agricultural engineer in India?

To become an agricultural engineer in India, students must follow right from the school level. In India, subjects that students must be experts in from the school level are mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and English. After class 10th, students must choose relevant streams so that they can easily apply for the exams held for admission to agricultural engineering courses. At UG and PG levels, students must choose relevant branches of engineering like BTech in agricultural engineering and MTech in agricultural engineering. Below are some of the levels of preparation that students must follow to become agricultural engineers in India.

School-level preparation

• At the school level, students must know the basics of mathematics, physics concepts, chemistry concepts, and biology. 
• This basic knowledge will be helpful to understand the concepts in higher studies of agricultural engineering.

UG level preparation

• At the UG level, students must choose relevant streams to go for agricultural engineering. A stream that students can choose at the UG level is BTech in agricultural engineering. 
• Students must be prepared for higher concepts and applications of these concepts in the real world to solve problems.

PG level preparation

• At the PG level, candidates must prepare themselves for research in agricultural engineering, must prepare themselves for using different concepts and techniques that can help them in making it more efficient for this profession. 
• The best PG courses for agricultural engineering include MTech agricultural engineering.

Courses to Become an Agricultural Engineer

Different courses that you can pursue to become an agricultural engineer in India are:

BTech in Agricultural Engineering

• BTech in Agricultural Engineering is a 4-year undergraduate program for agricultural studies. During the course, students are prepared for recognizing and solving real-world problems.
• Admission to BTECH agricultural engineering is entrance-based as well as merit-based.
• The entrance exams for pursuing BTECH in agricultural engineering courses are JEE mains, KCET, ICAR AIEEA, etc.
• 75% minimum marks are required in class 12th in the relevant stream to pursue BE/BTECH course.
• The average fee for the course of BE/BTECH is INR 50,000 to 15,00,000 per year.

MTech in Agricultural Engineering

• MTech in Agricultural Engineering is a 2-year post-graduate study program. The course is aimed to teach students advanced knowledge and concepts related to agricultural engineering.
• Admission to the course is entrance-based.
• Entrance exams required for pursuing the course are GATE, ICAR AIEEA, etc.
• A minimum of 50% marks is required in the relevant UG course of agricultural engineering.
• The average fee for the course is 30,000 INR to 75,000 INR.

How to Become an Agricultural Engineer Abroad

The top destinations to become an agricultural engineer abroad are USA and Canada.

USA

The eligibility for studying agricultural engineering in USA are:

• Students must have completed 12th with physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
• Course credits must be 120 to 128.
• Exams required are SAT/ACT, IELTS/TOEFL/PTE
• The average fee ranges from 28,000 USD to 55,000 USD.
• Students must obtain an 80% score in their graduate examination to get admission to the PG course.

Top colleges

Canada

Eligibility criteria for studying agricultural engineering in Canada are:

• A minimum of 60% score is required in the high school examination.
• English proficiency test score is required like IELTS, TOEFL
• SAT score will also be required for admission.
• 75% of the score in the UG examination is required for admission to the PG course.
• The average fee ranges from 12,000 USD to 50,000 USD

Top colleges

Benefits of a Career as an Agricultural Engineer

Every profession has its benefits. Agricultural engineering career also has its benefits. Today, students mostly choose streams that are popular in society and there is only a few percent of students who go for agricultural engineering. Hence, the job opportunities for agricultural engineers are higher. The salary range of the career is also great.

Average salary

The average salary of an agricultural engineer is 550,000 INR. Your salary increases with an increase in your experience. Thus an agriculture engineer is paid very well.

Job security

Since a few percentages of students choose agricultural engineering as their career and this availability of few agricultural engineering professionals make their jobs secure. Agricultural industries are very important In today's life. Agricultural products are being used by every person and there are fewer or no chances of the agricultural industry collapsing. Hence this also makes the jobs of agricultural engineers secure.

The positive impact of the career

The positive impact of the career is mentioned below.

• The career provides a good salary to the candidate.
• The job of an agricultural engineer is highly secured.
• The work environment is comfortable.

Skills required for an agricultural engineer

Different professions require different skills. Below are some of the important skills required for an agricultural engineer.

Salary of an Agricultural Engineer

The average salary of an agricultural engineer in India ranges between INR 4-5 lakhs per annum.

Average annual salary

Specialization wise salary

Experience wise salary