CAREER OPTIONS IN AGRICULTURE

The importance of agriculture cannot be over-emphasized, ranging from feeding the whole population to providing, materials for shelter and clothing, employment opportunities
and sources of income which are the notable important basic necessity of life. The entire world lives and exists thanks to agriculture because we all eat, wear clothes and reside under an abode daily among others.

Agriculture is always viewed in two ways, some people picture agriculture to be full of relaxation and enjoyment because they only see the good part, good income and the beautiful products without seeing the stressful part of it which can also be well managed. Some people see agriculture as a dirty business, poor man’s job and don’t want to get involved because of their lack of appreciation for the development and complexities of modern-day agriculture. People tend to picture agriculture as being too risky and problematic. Yes, I’d agriculture to that but all these are not real issues with proper management practices.

Agriculture is an exciting global industry that uses cutting edge technology, which is constantly improving, developing and innovating. Agriculture is an important contributor to the national and global economy, the world relies on its farms in order to survive. Agriculture is hugely important and is an incredibly big business that opens door to a lot of careers and opportunities desperately attractive to skilled workers different from the traditional roles, which involves being hands on farm.

Choosing a career in agriculture apart from being rewarding and fulfilling also has a lot of benefits such as: Job satisfaction, Varieties of career opportunities, Lives saving and sustaining, Challenging work, Intellectual development, Potential to benefit the society and world at large, Financial security, Prestige, Professional environment, Good long term prospect, Technological and scientific discovery and development, and creative thinking.

The job range in agriculture is virtually endless, ranging from being farm workers to professionals. There are jobs on the farms and there are some off the farms, here is a list of some agricultural jobs/careers and their respective roles:

• Farm workers or hands: These are the people who do practical work on the farm and it involves working with crops, livestock or both depending on the farm settings.
• Farm manager: with strong practical and business skills financially and strategically plans, organise and manage all the activities on the farm.
• Farm consultants: uses a wide variety of knowledge from any respective field of agriculture to offer advices to the farmers and support farm owners to help run the farm in a more productive, profitable and efficient way.
• Agronomist: sees to proper and healthy growth conditions of crops, and also ensure pests and diseases of crops control.
• Animal scientist: advices farmers on animal feed in other to maximise growth, reproduction, health and performance. Also ensures diseases control.
• Agricultural scientist: works in laboratories and conduct researches and experiments that allow production methods to be improved
• Veterinarians: cure diseases and ailments of farm animals
• Agricultural sales: sells wide range of inputs to the farmers such as machinery, feed, fertilizer and seeds.
• Product buyers: buys products from the farmers for use in the production of food.
• Foresters: deals with the conservation of the forest and wildlife.
• Agricultural engineers: focuses more on mechanisation of agricultural production processes. Aims at designing, developing, installing and maintaining agricultural machineries that improve the efficiency of farm work.

A career in agriculture requires people to be comfortable working outside in all weather, good practical skills, able to solve problem with little or no assistance, self-motivated, technological know-how, good numerical skills. So, if you have interest in technology, science, the environment and business, a career in agriculture might be the best for you.