Machines, water, and post-harvest processing: the engineering behind food production, taught as one degree from tillage to cold chain in Ludhiana, Los Baños, Davis and beyond.
This track covers the whole agricultural engineering degree: farm machinery and power, land and water resources, post-harvest and food processing, and energy, structures and environment. Its curriculum and exam map are built from the published syllabi of the exams in the catalogue (GATE AG, ICAR AIEEA-PG and AICE-JRF/SRF, PRC ABE, NCEES PE Ag & Bio and FE, Irrigation Association CID/CAIS, and others), each row carrying its source and a note on how firmly it was verified. Laisha's questions are original practice written to those syllabi and patterns; they are not past papers and do not reproduce any board's questions.
Years 1–2. The mathematics, science, drawing, workshop and computing that every later subject leans on, plus the soil and crop knowledge an agricultural engineer designs for.
Years 2–3. Fluids, soils, heat, mechanisms, machine elements, electrical machines, instruments, structures, economics and ethics — the engineering core shared with civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.
Years 2–4. Power sources, tillage-to-harvest machines, engines, tractors, traction, testing, machinery economics, ergonomics, hydraulics, precision agriculture and drones. About a third of GATE AG and of PRC ABE.
Hydrology, soil and water conservation, watershed planning, irrigation, pressurised irrigation, drainage, groundwater and pumps, remote sensing and canal systems. The heaviest block in GATE AG and 32% of PRC ABE.
Properties of produce, drying, milling, storage, cold chain, food and dairy processing, quality and plant design. Together with dairy and food engineering this is roughly a quarter of GATE AG and part of PRC ABE's 36% subject.
Renewable and bio-energy, farm buildings and environmental control, greenhouses, waste management, and the aquacultural and forest engineering that some countries' laws include.
Every row names the page or document it was taken from. 'verified' means the official page or document was opened and read; 'secondary' means the details come from a coaching or news site, a mirror, or a search snippet because the official site could not be reached; 'unverified' means only the body's existence or home page was confirmed and the format is not known. Formats, dates and fees change: check the official source before you register. Where a country has no written agricultural-engineering exam, the row says so rather than inventing one.
| Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) / NER Engineers Australia · professional | Competency-based: 16 elements in 4 areas, CPD portfolio; a chartered-via-interview route for 15+ years' experience. No written exam. | source |
| UniSQ BEng (Hons) — Agricultural Engineering major University of Southern Queensland · entrance | University admission. | source |
| BCS Agriculture cadre — Agricultural Engineering (subject code 821) Bangladesh Public Service Commission · civil-service | Preliminary 200-mark MCQ (2 h); written 900 marks; viva 200 marks. Code 821 is a 200-mark post-related paper. | source |
| CREA professional registration CONFEA / CREA · licensing | Registration required to practise (Lei 5.194/1966, art. 55). No exam. | source |
| ENADE (national graduation assessment) INEP / MEC · professional | 4 hours: general education 25% (2 essay + 8 MCQ) and specific component 75% (3 essay + 27 MCQ), per a 2017 engineering paper. | source |
| Engineers Canada Agricultural / Biosystems / Bioresource / Food Engineering examination syllabus Provincial and territorial regulators (syllabus by Engineers Canada) · licensing | Written confirmatory exams for graduates of non-CEAB programmes, assigned case by case. | source |
| P.Eng licensure (Canada) Provincial and territorial regulators (APEGA, PEO, APEGS and others) · licensing | CEAB-accredited degree or equivalent, work experience, a professional practice exam, good character and language. | source |
| National Professional Practice Exam (NPPE) Canadian engineering regulators · licensing | 110 MCQs (100 scored), 2.5 hours, remote-proctored, English or French, five sittings a year. | source |
| National Postgraduate Entrance Exam (考研) — 0828 Agricultural Engineering secondary Ministry of Education / NEEA and universities · pg | Politics 100 + foreign language 100 + two subject papers of 150 each (a national mathematics paper or a specialist foundation paper). | source |
| National university exit exam unverified Ministry of Education · professional | Unverified. | source |
| GATE — Agricultural Engineering (AG) IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati) · pg | Computer-based, 3 hours, 100 marks (15 General Aptitude + 85 technical: 25 one-mark and 30 two-mark questions). MCQ, MSQ and NAT; negative marking on MCQ only (−1/3 for one-mark, −2/3 for two-mark); no partial credit on MSQ. On-screen virtual calculator. | source |
| ICAR AIEEA-PG — Agricultural Engineering & Technology (Major Subject Group 10) National Testing Agency for ICAR · pg | Computer-based, 120 minutes, 120 MCQs, +4 / −1, English only (2026 bulletin). One paper for the whole subject group. | source |
| ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Agricultural Engineering subjects 38–43 National Testing Agency for ICAR · phd | LAN-based computer test, 2 hours, 120 MCQs: 20 Part A (general knowledge and reasoning), 50 Part B (core group), 50 Part C (specialisation); four options. | source |
| ASRB NET — Farm Machinery & Power / Land & Water Management Engineering / Agricultural Structures & Process Engineering secondary Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR) · specialist | NET: 150 MCQs, 150 marks, 2 hours, −1/3 per wrong answer, English/Hindi, PG level. Combined NET/ARS/SMS/STO recruitment runs prelims, mains and interview. | source |
| Rajasthan PSC — Assistant Agriculture Engineer (Agriculture Engineering syllabus) Rajasthan Public Service Commission · civil-service | Objective paper; the paper structure was not captured. | source |
| Tamil Nadu PSC — Agricultural Engineering (Code 164, degree standard) Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission · civil-service | Degree-standard subject paper (for posts such as Assistant Engineer (Agri)). | source |
| CUET-UG (ICAR 20% All-India Quota) for B.Tech Agricultural Engineering secondary National Testing Agency · entrance | CUET-UG domain tests; the exact subject combination for B.Tech Agricultural Engineering was not verified. | source |
| JEE Advanced → IIT Kharagpur B.Tech Agricultural & Food Engineering secondary IITs (JoSAA counselling) · entrance | JEE Main, then JEE Advanced, then JoSAA counselling. | source |
| Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes (Budni, Hisar, Anantapur, Biswanath Chariali) secondary Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India · professional | Not an exam: short training courses and machinery testing (commercial, batch, confidential, CMVR). | source |
| Insinyur certification (UU 11/2014) unverified Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia (PII) · licensing | Unverified. | source |
| Konkur (master's) — Agricultural Machinery / Biosystems Engineering unverified Sanjesh Organization · pg | Unverified: sanjesh.org returned 403. | source |
| Japan Professional Engineer (技術士) First-stage Exam — Agriculture division Institution of Professional Engineers, Japan (IPEJ) · licensing | Five-option multiple choice on mark sheet: basic science 1 h (15 of 30), aptitude/ethics 1 h (15 questions), specialist 2 h (25 of 35, 50 marks). No eligibility limits. | source |
| Japan Professional Engineer (技術士) Second-stage Exam — Agriculture division Institution of Professional Engineers, Japan (IPEJ) · licensing | Written (not multiple choice): compulsory paper 2 h (40 marks), elective papers 3.5 h (30 + 30 marks), then a 20-minute oral. 4–7 years' experience required. | source |
| Engineers Board of Kenya — Professional Engineer registration Engineers Board of Kenya · licensing | Engineers Act 2011 s.16: graduate registration, experience, a pass in the Board's professional assessment examination, and IEK corporate membership. | source |
| Board of Engineers Malaysia registration (Graduate Engineer → PE → PE with Practising Certificate) secondary Board of Engineers Malaysia · licensing | Unverified: bem.org.my returned 403. | source |
| Nepal Engineering Council Registration Exam — Agricultural Engineering secondary Nepal Engineering Council · licensing | Reported as 100 MCQs, 2 hours, 50% to pass — this format is unverified (search summary only). | source |
| Lok Sewa Aayog — Agricultural Engineer posts unverified Public Service Commission, Nepal · civil-service | Unverified: the commission's site loads only with JavaScript and nothing readable was obtained. | source |
| Wageningen MSc Biosystems Engineering admission Wageningen University & Research · pg | File review; no entrance test. | source |
| COREN professional examination and interview Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria · licensing | Written exam (engineering in society + specialisation), 25–30-minute oral interview and experience-report review; at least 50% in each part; 4 years' post-degree experience; held about quarterly. | source |
| PEC Engineering Practice Examination (EPE) secondary Pakistan Engineering Council · licensing | Computer-based; 5 years' experience after PEC registration required. The 27th EPE was reported for 8 Nov 2026. | source |
| Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers Licensure Examination (ABELE) Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, PRC · licensing | Paper-based, 2 days (Day 1 6 hours; Day 2 5 hours + 4 hours). Non-programmable calculator only; the Dec 2025 programme bans the Casio fx-991ES/ES Plus by name. | source |
| Engineering Council Sri Lanka registration secondary Engineering Council Sri Lanka (Act No. 4 of 2017) · licensing | Several registration categories (Chartered, Associate, Incorporated Engineer and others); exam format unverified. | source |
| IESL Professional Review → CEng (Sri Lanka) secondary Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka · professional | Routes: standard, direct, MRA and professional review; format unverified. | source |
| Council of Engineers licence (Thailand) Council of Engineers (Engineer Act B.E. 2542) · licensing | Not known for agricultural engineering. | source |
| KPSS (P3) and ALES/YDS secondary ÖSYM · civil-service | KPSS: general ability and general culture. No agriculture field test was found. | source |
| ZMO authorisation certificates (yetki belgesi) secondary Chamber of Agricultural Engineers (ZMO) · professional | Not an exam: field-specific authorisation certificates with in-service training. | source |
| NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering NCEES (ASABE is the content partner) · licensing | Computer-based, 85 questions, 9.5-hour appointment (8.5 hours of exam). Once a year (next: 28 Oct 2026). Closed book with the electronic NCEES handbook and supplied searchable ASABE standards; SI and US customary units. | source |
| NCEES FE Other Disciplines NCEES · licensing | Computer-based, 110 questions, 6-hour appointment (5 h 20 min exam). | source |
| Irrigation Association Certified Irrigation Designer — Agriculture (CID) Irrigation Association · professional | General Ag exam (150 MCQs, 4 h) plus a specialty exam — Drip/Micro (75 questions, 4 h) or Sprinkler (50 questions, 4 h) — all within 3 years. | source |
| Irrigation Association Certified Agricultural Irrigation Specialist (CAIS) Irrigation Association · professional | 100 MCQs, 3 hours. | source |
| CEng / IEng / EngTech via IAgrE Institution of Agricultural Engineers (licensed by the Engineering Council) · professional | Competence review and professional review interview against UK-SPEC. No written exam. | source |
| Landbased Technician Accreditation (LTA 1–4) secondary IAgrE for the AEA industry scheme · professional | Four levels from LTA1 Entry to LTA4 Master; LTA2 at advanced apprenticeship level; pathway to EngTech. | source |
| Harper Adams BEng / MEng Agricultural Engineering (with placement) Harper Adams University (UCAS) · entrance | UCAS entry: BEng H330, 4 years, 96 UCAS points; MEng H335, 5 years, 136–144 points (ABB including Maths). | source |
An agricultural engineer's work changes shape over a career: from passing semesters and entrance or licensing exams, to designing irrigation systems, fixing tractors and running machinery banks, to heading plants, departments and test stations, to setting the research agenda and the exams themselves. This guide describes each stage as product analysis — what the work usually involves and where it hurts — not as a claim about any particular employer. No salaries or market sizes are given because none were verified. Where Laisha can help today it says so; anything not built yet is marked 'coming'.
An undergraduate in a four-year agricultural engineering degree: the ICAR 6th Deans' Committee B.Tech in India (174 credits + 6 online, from 2024-25), the BS Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering in the Philippines, an ABET-accredited programme in the USA, or an equivalent BEng elsewhere — and the graduate preparing for GATE AG, ICAR AIEEA-PG, PRC ABE or the NCEES FE.
What the day holds
Decisions that are theirs
What they look up
Where it hurts
An engineer about five years into one of five common roles: service, design or testing engineer at a tractor or implement company; irrigation designer for drip, sprinkler and pumping systems; custom hiring centre or FPO machinery manager; food or agro-processing plant engineer; or government agricultural engineer (assistant or agricultural engineer in a state department, soil conservation office, or equivalent agencies such as the Philippine DA or a Kenyan county).
What the day holds
Decisions that are theirs
What they look up
Where it hurts
A senior professional about 25 years into the field: plant or manufacturing head at a tractor, implement or processing-equipment maker; chief engineer of an irrigation, soil conservation or agricultural engineering department; director of a testing institute (India's FMTTI network, the Philippines' AMTEC, or a national test station); or a mechanisation policy adviser.
What the day holds
Decisions that are theirs
What they look up
Where it hurts
A professor at an agricultural university, a scientist in ICAR, a national agricultural research service or an equivalent institute, or a leader in CIGR, ASABE, IAgrE or a national society — with a PhD and about 25 years of teaching, research and committee work.
What the day holds
Decisions that are theirs
What they look up
Where it hurts
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