About Us
Agricultural Engineering is the application of engineering principles to the solution of problems in agriculture to essentially remove drudgery. Agricultural Engineering has several components including agricultural mechanisation, power and machinery, soil and water engineering, food and postharvest engineering and agro-environmental and biological systems engineering.
The Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering is one of the departments in the College of Engineering. Faculty members have been engaged in the areas of teaching, research and service to the community in various capacities.
RESEARCH FOCUS
The Department in terms of research focus is sectioned into five main broad areas in the application of engineering principles to agriculture. They are:
1. Agricultural Machinery Engineering
It entails design and manufacture, application, evaluation, maintenance and repairs of agricultural equipment and machinery used in:
• Agricultural farm land preparation
• Crop maintenance
• Irrigation of farm land
• Harvesting food crops
• Processing of Agricultural produce
2. Food and Post-Harvest Engineering
Research in this area focuses on the development of technologies for drying, storage of agricultural produce, materials handling and food processing.
3. Soil and Water Engineering
The research focus is in the area of meteorology, soil and water conservation and management; hydrology, irrigation and drainage and rural water supply.
4. Agro-environmental Engineering
Research in this area focuses on environmental Control and farm Structures as housing facilities for farmers, crops and livestock. Renewable energy systems utilisation (e.g. Biogas Technology etc.) is also considered.
5. Bioengineering
The research focus in Bioengineerings encompasses bio-materials, bioprocessing, bioenergy, environmental bio-technology, bioreactor design, biosystems modeling, and the development of sustainable agricultural technologies.