Agricultural Engineering for Sustainable Development (AE 101) – Syllabus
This course offers a holistic introduction to the principles and practices that drive sustainable agriculture, from water management and energy use to post-harvest handling and farm machinery. Dive into each module below to see how we’ll explore the farm-to-fork ecosystem and the role of engineering in achieving global sustainability goals.
This course follows the updated 2025 BE Agricultural Engineering syllabus of Tribhuvan University. It is designed for first-year students in the first semester and carries 2 lecture credits and 1 tutorial credit, with no practical component.
Course Objectives
The course is designed to provide comprehensive concepts of sustainable development, agricultural practices, irrigation practices, energy practices, post-harvest practices, soil and water conservation and farm machinery, fostering a holistic approach from farm to fork and the agro-food ecosystem.
Lecture: 2 | Tutorial: 1 | Practical: 0 | Year: 1 | Part: 1
1. Overview of Sustainable Development (6 hours)
- 1.1 Introduction and importance of sustainable development
- 1.2 Three pillars of sustainable development
- 1.3 Evolution from MDG to SDG
- 1.4 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and indicators (UN SDGs)
- 1.5 SDG goals’ linkage with agricultural system and interaction
- 1.6 The role of agricultural engineering in achieving sustainable development goals
- 1.7 Application of SDGs in the design and implementation of sustainable projects
- 1.8 Enabling environment for sustainable agricultural systems
2. Sustainable Agricultural Practices (8 hours)
- 2.1 Overview of sustainable agriculture and associated practices
- 2.2 Concept of conservation agriculture and precision farming
- 2.3 Integrated pest management (IPM) in agriculture
- 2.4 Organic farming practices
- 2.5 Concept of climate-smart agriculture
- 2.6 Life cycle assessment of agro-food ecosystem
- 2.7 Application of LCA to agro-food ecosystems
- 2.8 Farm-to-fork concept
- 2.9 Roles of agricultural engineering and associated engineering practices in the farm-to-fork concept
- 2.10 Concept of permaculture farming
3. Sustainable Irrigation Practices (3 hours)
- 3.1 Concept of agricultural water management
- 3.2 Importance of sustainable water management in irrigated agriculture in Nepal
- 3.3 Efficiencies in irrigation systems from the water management perspective
- 3.4 Water-saving technologies in irrigated agriculture (drip and sprinkler irrigation)
- 3.5 Rainwater harvesting and storage for agriculture
4. Sustainable Energy for Agriculture (3 hours)
- 4.1 Energy use in agriculture processing
- 4.2 Renewable energy sources for and from agriculture and livestock
- 4.3 Energy-efficient farming practices in Nepal
5. Sustainable Soil and Water Conservation Practices (4 hours)
- 5.1 Concept of integrated watershed management plan
- 5.2 Agroforestry and soil conservation practices for watershed sustainability
- 5.3 Soil erosion and conservation measures in practice
- 5.4 Low-cost watershed management practices for sustainable agriculture
- 5.5 Concept of land use plan and importance of land use planning
- 5.6 Concept of land fragmentation and land consolidation and its importance in Nepal
6. Sustainable Farm Machinery (3 hours)
- 6.1 Farm machinery equipment and sustainable agriculture
- 6.2 Role of machinery in sustainable agriculture
- 6.3 Energy-efficient farm equipment and practices in Nepal
- 6.4 Precision farming equipment
7. Sustainable Post-Harvest Practices (3 hours)
- 7.1 Post-harvest practices for sustainable agriculture
- 7.2 Post-harvest losses and their impact
- 7.3 Solar drying and its application
- 7.4 Low-cost and eco-friendly storage techniques
- 7.5 Value chain actors and importance of value chain for sustainability of the agro-food ecosystem in Nepal
Tutorial Topics
- Case study of local food sustainability practices, focusing on the three sustainability dimensions
- Case study on food sustainability analysis
- Group work on quantitative or qualitative analysis of sustainability synergies and trade-offs associated with different food options
- Case study of sustainable practice in agriculture
- Case study on actors from field to plate (farmers, pre- and post-harvesting processors, value chain actors, etc.)
References
- https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/frameworks
- NPC. Sustainable Development Goals: status and roadmap 2016–2030. National Planning Commission, Nepal, 2017.
- TP Ojha and AM Michael. Principles of Agricultural Engineering Volume 1 and Volume 2. 12th Edition. Jain Brothers.
- Pradhan, P., Costa, L., Rybski, D., Lucht, W., & Kropp, J. P. (2017). A systematic study of sustainable development goal (SDG) interactions. Earth's Future, 5(11), 1169–1179.