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Concept
Agricultural engineering
Summary
Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil, electrical, food science, environmental, software, and chemical engineering to improve the efficiency of farms and agribusiness enterprises as well as to ensure sustainability of natural and renewable resources.
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.
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 South America irrigation was practiced in Peru by the Incas and in North America by the Aztecs.
The earliest plough was the ard or scratch-plough.
Settlers practiced irrigation in the vicinity of San Antonio in 1715, the Mormons practiced irrigation in Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
With growing mechanization and steam power in the industrial revolution, a new age in agricultural engineering began. Over the course of the industrial revolution, mechanical harvesters and planters would replace field hands in most of the food and cash crop industries. Mechanical threshing was introduced in 1761 by John Lloyd, Magnus Strindberg and Dietrich. Beater bar threshing machine was built by Andrew Meikle in 1786. A cast iron plow was first made by Charles Newbold between 1790 and 1796.
James Smith constructed a mower in 1811. George Berry used a steam combine harvester in 1886. John Deere made his first steel plow in 1833. The two horse cultivator was first about 1861.
Official source
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