As a college student, it can be difficult to choose the course that you’ll take or your career path. Most individuals want to take lucrative courses such as medicine, information technology, and engineering to name a few. Only a handful choose to study agriculture. Most learners in our modern world need to be encouraged to take agricultural courses. Agriculture deals with the theoretical and practical application of farming, production, and processing of both animals and plants. Everyone across the world needs agriculture or agricultural experts to survive.
Engineering concepts in agriculture
Back in the day, people used to spend days in the field plowing, planting, and harvesting crops. It was a slow and tedious process that discouraged many young individuals from studying agriculture. Fortunately, with technology and engineering concepts, agricultural yields have risen quite rapidly with less effort on the farmer’s side. Here are some of the concepts that have led to this:
1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence revolves around having a computer imitate the actions and capabilities of a human being. In the world of farming, this technology has the power to boost resource efficiency, and revenues and enhance sustainability. It can help farmers by predicting which crops will have the highest yield depending on the season. Farmers can analyze reports created by artificial intelligence gadgets to make good decisions and get higher yields. It can also be used to reduce harvesting time and labor. As an agriculture student, your tutor will require you to study and write assignments regularly. You can use agriculture topics by StudyMoose for inspiration and to get more time to learn about artificial intelligence. Reading essays on agriculture and working with experts will greatly improve your productivity and performance in the long run.
2. Drone farming
Drones are not just used to take breathtaking photos. They can help farmers by surveilling their fields and gathering important information that will enable them to make informed decisions. They are used in farms to provide affordable monitoring services. And provide farmers with the right interventions such as when to put fertilizers or spray pesticides.
3. Farming machinery
Robots and self-operating machinery are used to perform a wide range of tasks that are based on imagery analysis and global positioning systems to reduce labor, optimize resources and increase harvests. With this equipment, farmers can run their farms without the intervention of human beings. And this saves a lot of resources in the long run. They can also help in monitoring soil, controlling pests, and producing healthy crops.
Manufacturing concepts in agriculture
Manufacturing revolves around creating new products through components or raw materials. Farmers create new products using raw materials such as soil and water. In the world of agriculture, using these manufacturing concepts can help in reducing operating costs and increasing yield:
1. Interplant
This is the process of growing different crops at the same time. It is one of the best ways to increase crop productivity. Conducting extensive research on crops that grow well together will help you make the most out of your space.
2. Soil management and water use
Nearly 40 percent of the food around the world is grown using irrigation. Improper irrigation can lead to loss of water and soil salinity. Since climate change has become a threat, improving soil management and water use methods will boost productivity and enhance sustainability.
Integrating these concepts into the agriculture curriculum
As we said earlier, most learners have associated agriculture with long days on the farm and hard work. However, those days are long gone thanks to modern engineering and manufacturing concepts. By integrating the concepts that we’ve discussed in this article into the agricultural curriculum, more students are going to be interested. And this will eventually lead to an increase in experts in the field and production on farms. How can tutors and education experts integrate these concepts into the school curriculum to help in career preparation in agriculture?
- Encourage the use of technology in class – Most of the concepts that we’ve discussed here are tech-based. Modern learners love using tech gadgets. Research studies have shown that tutors who use technology in their classes boost student engagement and performance. Tutors can use videos and presentations to teach. They can also encourage students to study remotely.
- Practical lessons – A college student cannot learn how to prepare fields, plant crops, and harvest in class. They have to spend time outside learning and doing things practically. Education experts need to include practical lessons in the curriculum for students to practice what they learn in class and figure out what works.
- Class tours – University students will never take an agriculture lesson or course seriously if they don’t go beyond the farm. Education experts and tutors need to include class tours in the curriculum. Students can visit animal and plant processing factories in different parts of the world to learn more about the sources of the products they use in their daily lives.
Conclusion
These are some of the best ways to integrate engineering and manufacturing concepts into the agriculture curriculum. Which tips are you going to use to implement them and help learners achieve their goals?
