Agricultural Engineering Research Directorate
The Agricultural Engineering Research Directorate is one of the primary research directorates of the Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (IQQO). Its goal is to generate and adapt suitable agricultural engineering technologies and information to support the four pillars of agricultural development: food security, job creation, import substitution, and enhancing export earnings.
Goal
Increasing productivity per agricultural worker per unit of applied input and improving the attractiveness and ease of work associated with farming are the main objectives of the Agricultural Engineering Research Directorate. These changes will also significantly boost the economic growth of the farming/pastoral communities whose mainstay is agriculture.
Research Focus
Broadly speaking, the directorate's research endeavors focus on generating and improvement (adaptation) of suitable agricultural engineering technologies and information for the following agricultural operations:
- Tillage (primary and secondary tillage), planting, fertilizer application, weed and pest control operations
- Drainage and irrigation
- Harvesting and post-harvest processing, storage, feed processing, animal rearing and utilization (bee, dairy, poultry)
- Harvesting and using renewable energy sources (solar, hydro, and biological) for domestic, agricultural, and other uses.
Research teams
The directorate's four research teams are as follows:
- Farm Power and Agricultural Machinery
- Water Harvesting, Drainage, and Irrigation
- Processing of Agricultural Products and Post-Harvest
- Renewable Energy
Scope of the directorate
The directorate's research efforts are housed in 13 of the IQQO's 17 research centers. The distribution of each team among the research centers is shown in the table below.
