Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering started at the Ahmadu Bello University through the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR). The Institute has existed for almost seventy years having started in 1922 as department of agriculture in the then Northern Province. With establishment of Ahmadu Bello University in 1962, the Institute was transferred to the new university and has since operated under its administrative umbrella even though it is funded separately by Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.
The department was initially a section in the department of Agricultural Economics and later a section in the department of Agronomy and finally it became a full fledged department in 1974/75 session under Faculty of Agriculture. Its affiliate to faculty of Agriculture was shifted to the Faculty of Engineering in 1976 to ensure greater interaction with other engineering disciplines and acceptability by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering Practice in Nigeria (COREN). Thus the department is one of the academic in IAR and Faculty of Engineering. The research activities of the department are conducted through the Agricultural Mechanization Programmes and the Irrigation research Programme of the IAR depending upon the project.
Many other traditional areas of agricultural engineering, such as soil and water, postharvest and value-added processing and structures and environmental engineering have made remarkable impacts to agricultural production in Northern Nigeria. The department is transforming in to a future bio-based engineering and technology mindset. To build on the past successes, the department has made a strategic decision to adopt a new approach in it vision by a new name of ‘Agricultural and Bio-resource Engineering’
To provide an efficient innovational value-added engineering education programmes for training graduates with professional skills geared to the excellent performance to mankind at national, regional and international levels.
To become an efficient and dynamic department capable of producing qualified graduates with training, research and community services skills that will be enterprising and self-reliant.
Agriculture is the industry which has always supplied mankind with food, fibre for clothing, and shelter. It is recognized as a primary industry because agricultureal products have a universal need. This primary industry has certain problems that require engineering solutions. Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering is that branch of Engineering that applies the principles of engineering to solve certain problems often encountered in agriculture. With the high demand for more raw materials both for industry and human consumption, the demand for agricultural engineers increases. The philosophy of the training programme in Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering is aimed at integrating teaching, research and extention in agriculture into a unified curriculum to solve real and practical problems of the environment it serves. Thus, the department takes the advantage of its being a department in IAR which is heavily involved in research and extension. Students are thus given final year projects which are IAR funded projects for possible solutions before the B.Eng (Agric) degree is awarded.
The Agricultural Enginering curricllum emphasizes physical sciences, general engineering courses, mathematics, general agriculture and some aspects of humanities. A general degree is thought to be appropriate based on the current job situation students are often encouraged to take up final year projects in the areas of their interest. Thus, it is hoped, they may determine the area of specialization at higher degree level. These areas are:
1. Farm Power and Machinery
2. Soil and Water Engineering
3. Farm Structures and Environmental Control
4. Agricultural Processing and Storage .