Although agricultural engineering is a fairly new subject, its effect is being felt in India increasingly. In recent years it has contributed to agricultural production in the country both directly and indirectly. The number of modern machines used in agriculture is a fairly good index of the progress made during the four 5 year plans. And yet all this progress is insignificant as compared to that in USSR, USA, Japan, UK Canada, and Australia. This development has made two things clear: 1. That the Indian farmers are quick in adopting new methods and techniques and 2. That the Indian industries can manage as good machines as those abroad.

Agricultural engineering as defined by international institutions comprises of four main branches, (i)farm implements (ii)rural structures (iii)soil conservation, drainage, and irrigation and (iv)rural electricity.

Because of the peculiar local conditions the lack of electricity on a large scale, and the immediate utility of implements, agricultural engineering in India is more of agricultural implements and machinery. But in fact agricultural engineering is a very vast subject and may be defined as the application of the knowledge, techniques and disciplines of various fields of engineering to the solution of problems arising in the field of agriculture and rural living with the object of reducing labour, improving productivity and raising the standard of living of the farmer and increasing the overall earnings per worker.

The era of more intensive planning brought reorganisation on a wider scale. With the establishment of agricultural universities, several agricultural engineering colleges were established offering graduate and post graduate courses. The most important step has been the establishment of agro-industries corporations with the financial assistance of the Central Ministry of Agriculture. The main objectives of establishing these corporations have been to take over the supply and service functions of the departments of agriculture and to expand them. These agri-industries corporations have each a paid-up capital of 2-5 crores of rupees. They have taken over the existing government workshops also.

The other most important development has been in the field of industry which has so far half a dozen factories for manufacturing tractors, 3 or 4 for power tillers, and several for oil engines and electrically driven pumpimg sets. Some of these are being assisted by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India. These helped to quicken the pace of mechanisation of Indian agriculture.

The following table shows the progress made during the last 25 years :

NAME OF THE IMPLEMENT	1951	1956	1961
Mouldboard type iron ploughs	930000	13,66,000	23,00,000
Bullock driven crushers	5,04,000	5,44,000	5,90,000
Power driven crushers	21,000	23,000	32,210
Centrifugal pumps with oil engines	82,000	1,22,000	2,29,000
Electric pumps	25,000	55,000	1,60,000
Tractors	8,500	21,000	34,000

It is not merely the knowledge of agricultural engineering which is needed for increasing production, but also the knowledge of their availability, prices and upkeep. Information can be obtained from:
1. At the village level: the village level worker or gram sevak.
2. At the block level: the Agricultural Extension Officer or the District Planning Officer.
3. At the district level: The District Agricultural Officer or the District Planning Officer.
4. At the state level: the State Agricultural Engineering Section and the Managing Director of the State Agro-Industries Corporation.
5. At the Central level: the Director of Agricultural implements and Joint Commissioner (machinery), Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

The private industry as well as the government, through their agro-industries corporations are in the field now for the supply of agricultural machinery to farmers. To prevent the charging of exorbitant prices for tractors, the govt has fixed the price of tractors with the assistance of the Bureau of Cost Accounting in the Ministry of Finance. This organisation has helped the farmers very much.

Agricultural aviation is now gaining ground in India. At present the aeroplanes and helicopters are being used mainly for spraying pesticides but in future they may be used for sowing and spraying liquid fertilizers on the crops. Agricultural electronics has also begun and remote-control tractors are being designed and tested in some countries. With the successful explosion of an atomic device India may be able to generate more electricity in the future. The availability of plentiful irrigation water as a result of the Ganga-Kauveri project and the availability of more electricity from atomic energy will make the progress of farm mechanisation in India speedier. Thus the future seems to be bright.