B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture is a four-year professional degree program after which one can find various job opportunities in the private as well as government sectors. In this article, you’ll have a clearer idea of the existing jobs after BSc Agriculture.
Agriculture in India is a booming industry. The Indian agriculture sector accounts for 18 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employs over 50% of the country’s driving workforce.
With such a vastly growing sector, you must be wondering where these jobs exist and under what domain? But you don’t have to worry, as we got your back. Here’s a list of some private, government careers as well as entrepreneurial sectors which you can think about after your graduation in agriculture.
1. Agriculture Officer – Various privately held agro-companies hire agriculture graduates with 1-2 years of experience for field level as well as for various farmer awareness programs.
2. Project Manager – Manager positions require a minimum of 3 years of managerial experience. Hence, can be offered in various agriculture-related companies.
3. Agricultural Lecturer – We all have seen the growth potential of the education industry during the COVID times. Therefore, various ed-tech platforms hire agriculture graduates as teachers or lecturers with keen interest.
4. Sales Officer – Salesmen are considered the backbone of a company, which further creates job openings for agri-graduates in seed, fertilizer, and agriculture input-output companies.
5. Agricultural Chemical Industry – This includes fertilizer, pesticides, and biochemical industries that hire agriculture graduates with relevant skill sets in addition to 1-2 years of industry experience.
6. Banks – Private banks for example, ICICI, Axis Bank, and many more require agriculture graduates as officers for farmer’s assistance.
7. Seed Industry – Experienced graduates with 1-2 years of experience are easily hired as plant or seed breeders or in the sales field.
8. Irrigation Industry – Private irrigation companies are also an emerging industry for fresh graduates to try their hands in.
9. Kisan call center – With the development of various agriculture data sharing apps, job profiles in call centers for farmer help are also emerging.
10. Hydroponics Technician – This is maybe the most advanced and high-tech job profile in the fast-growing field of hydroponics, i.e vertical farming under soil-less and environmentally controlled conditions. Yet, it requires a candidate to have at least a year of experience under hydroponics.
11. Lab Technician – Various food, biotechnology, and research companies are available. So, they hire lab technicians very frequently.
12. Soil Quality Controller – Privately held soil testing labs and companies who make soil testing kits or those companies involved in the conservation practices often release vacancies for soil quality control.
13. Wildlife Conservationist – Agriculture graduates having an interest in conservation with 2-3 years of experience, can easily become wildlife conservationists.
14. Food Quality Controller – Various FMCG companies hire quality analysts and quality control personnel for the maintenance and production of quality products.
15. Forester – These jobs are more profound in the government sector but a few exist in the private sector as well.
16. Field Investigator – All of the agro input-output companies have few openings for field investigators, that will help in collecting onsite or ground-level data.
17. Subject Matter Specialist – These specialists are pros in their fields, whether it’s about soil, horticulture, agronomy, water, genetics, medicinal plants, among many. Various companies will hire subject matter specialists with 2-3 years of experience.
18. Horticultural Consultant – These individuals are required in the large projects where plantation has to be done. Such projects for instance, include orchards, nursery establishments, private gardens, resorts, etc.
19. Landscape Designer – As the name suggests, these are required for making recreational parks, privately held gardens, golf courses, resorts, etc. Various private companies will hire them with 1-2 years of landscaping experience.
20. Floriculturist – Large floriculture farms producing loose and cut flowers require floriculturists for various operations like the handling and training of the labor and furthermore in maintenance of flower quality.
A majority of these government job profiles will require you to appear for an exam. But very few are also there that are interview based. So, let’s have a look at them.
1. Agricultural Field Officer (AFO) – Both central and state governments release vacancies annually, which you can consider by giving an exam.
2. Horticulture Supervisor – Similar to AFO, this vacancy is also released at both central and state levels by horticulture departments.
3. Junior Research Fellow – These profiles are based in universities, where research fellows work with senior researchers. But, you need to crack an exam of JRF for its selection.
4. Agriculture Development Officer – Vacancies are available in both central and state governments. You need to appear for staff selection examinations.
5. Forest Officer – This is also done through staff selection exams of central and state governments.
6. Agricultural Research Scientist – You can become an agricultural research scientist by appearing in the exams conducted by ICAR and related institutions.
7. NABARD – NABARD itself examines its various available openings, in which an agriculture graduate may appear.
8. IFS – To enter into Indian Forest Services you will need to appear in the UPSC examination.
9. Assistant Horticulture Officer – Horticulture departments of central as well as state governments release vacancies for this job profile, which may get filled with an exam or maybe by direct interview rounds.
10. Food Inspector – Government food agencies for instance, FCI and FSSAI or BIS have time-to-time openings for food inspectors.
11. Krishi Vigyan Kendra – You may find various KVK jobs which are however, filed on an interview basis.
12. Farm Manager – Government farms require its management as well, and it is when they hire farm managers having 3-4 years of experience.
13. Agricultural Extension Officer – These are also state and central-level jobs. It will require you to clear an exam for selection.
14. Lab Assistant – Agriculture graduates with 1-2 years of experience can apply for lab assistant posts under various governmental institutes.
15. Seed Companies – Government seed companies require seed breeders, managers, quality analysts, supervisors, etc. You can apply for these roles once you have relevant experience of 2-3 years
16. Fertilizer and Pesticide Companies – Government production units have various job openings under fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing. Some of the roles are quality control, distribution, certification, auditing, supervisor, as well as research and development. Furthermore, selection is usually via direct interviews.
17. Plantation Manager – Plantation crops are grown in large areas, and require managerial, assistant, as well as supervisor positions. Hence experienced agriculture graduates can find a role in plantations.
18. NHAI – NHAI releases horticulture expert positions for the plantation projects alongside the national highways. However, this position is filed through an entrance exam.
19. Project Associate – For the formulation and implementation of large projects like plantation, R&D under seed industry, fertilizer and pesticide industry, KVK, extension programs, etc. Hence, project associates are always in demand.
20. Agriculture Sales Officer – Sales officers are required in various governmental fields such as seed, fertilizer, pesticide, banks, farm machinery, and many more to spread the awareness and importance of a newly developed product. You must have 1-2 years of sales experience to be eligible for this post.
In addition to the above jobs after BSc Agriculture, you can always become a businessman. How? Let’s find out next.
According to NABARD, the Government of India encourages farmers and agriculture students in taking up projects in selected areas by subsidizing a portion of the total project or start-up cost. You can find that here.
There are multiple entrepreneurial sectors in which you can try your hand. Following are some such sectors which you can start either in your field or by leasing some piece of land or space.
The salary expectations for fresher applying to their field of interest are neither too low nor too high just like other domains. Whereas with 2 to 3 years of experience in the industry, a candidate can expect to get a good salary range. Here’s a list of top 60 agricultural companies in which you can apply for jobs after BSc Agriculture.
With an expectation for the world population to reach 10 billion by 2050, and to fulfill the ever-rising demand for food. There’s an urgent need for crop production to increase by many folds. This will ultimately create many green jobs for fresher as well as for experienced candidates. So, if you have proper skills, a hunger to learn, and a desire to serve the people, you’ll succeed in your future no matter what happens.