"Next to the gift of life is technology, for it is the greatest of God's gifts. It offers the poor of the earth a short cut to greatness and wealth, a way of getting rich by cleverness rather than back-breaking labour" -Dyson, 1989.

Dyson's quotes on technology applies to all goods and services used by man for comfort, security, conservation of natural resources and advancement. Imagine how the World would be without the use of various technologies in our day to day activities. Wikipedia defines Technology as the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. It can be extended to include knowledge of techniques, processes, etc. or it can be embedded in machines, computers, devices and factories which can be operated by individuals without detailed knowledge of the workings of such things. In as much as the technology is important in all facets of human endeavor, technology has many negative effects. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, such as pollution and depletion of natural resources to the detriment of Earth's environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Despite this seeming disadvantage(s) of technology, there is no doubt that the world population couldn't be fed without application of technology in all aspects of agriculture.

The simple meaning of technology is the use of science to invent useful things or to solve problems. This means application of scientific knowledge to address problems or improve productivity and efficiency is technology. Major professionals in the vanguard of promoting technology utilisation in man's day to day life are the engineers. Engineering is synonymous with technology provision and application. No doubt, engineering has transformed the modern societies as it was the basis of the industrial revolution. In Nigeria, engineers have played significant roles in our developmental efforts over the years. However, these roles are downplayed because of the nature of our development as a nation with an under-developed economy. Engineers in Nigeria are qualified like their counterparts in developed nations and given the opportunity and right environment, they can do as well as their colleagues in the developed nations. Among the crop of engineering professions, one of the most relevant to our national rural developmental plan and food self sufficiency is Agricultural Engineering. This three - series article is cataloguing some of the breakthroughs made within the agricultural engineering sphere in Nigeria. It is hoped that relevant stakeholders (industries, developmental agencies and NGOs) will take the gauntlet to complete the race and make end-users benefit from these innovations.

Agricultural engineering is the application of engineering principles for the production, processing management and utilisation of bio-resources (agriculturally based goods and services) as well as the management of our natural resources and environment. The discipline concerns itself with development of labour-saving devices and farm machines, farm buildings, irrigation and drainage systems, processes for preserving and converting agricultural products to useful food, feed, and fibre products. The Agricultural Engineer is a practically and intensively trained individual. He designs and provides solutions to problems militating against efficient agricultural production, harvesting, processing, handling, packaging, transportation and storage of agricultural products. Similarly, the engineer addresses systemic problems such as interaction between machines and humans, plants, animals, microorganism and biological materials. He or she develops alternative and best uses for agricultural products, by-products, wastes and our natural resources - soil, water, air, and energy. The Agricultural engineer is constantly striving to ensure that the growing world population access basic necessities of life: safe and abundant food and water to eat and drink; timber and fibre for shelter and clothing; renewable energy resources; clean air; and a safe, healthy environment in which to live. Prof. Makanjuola, one of the first set of Nigerian Agricultural Engineers defined the profession in 1977 as "that field of engineering in which the physical and biological sciences are utilised to find and apply better ways of exploiting natural resources for the production, handling, processing and storing of food and fodder. It is also concerned with finding better ways for carrying out such allied activities as rural housing and living. Agricultural Engineering consequently involves the design, development, testing, manufacturing, marketing, operation, maintenance, and repair of all agricultural tools, implements, machines and equipment which are used in mechanising agricultural operations with the objective of raising the productivity of human labour and land in the face of prevailing economical, human and social realities of the time and place concerned."

The uniqueness of the agricultural engineer is the interest and commitment to solving problems and pursuing opportunities in all the aforementioned areas and peculiar working environment. The biological and economic constraints will continue to make this a challenging career. This is why the agricultural engineer's training is usually broad with a wide coverage. Before focusing on the breakthroughs of agricultural engineers in the Nigerian environment, let us briefly understand what the word "Agriculture" entails.

Agriculture is the production of foods, fibre and forestry through farming. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilisation, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and crops, creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. Agriculture includes a wide variety of specialties and techniques, encompassing ways to expand the lands suitable for plant raising by digging water-channels and other forms of irrigation. Cultivation of crops on arable land and the pastoral herding of livestock on rangeland remain at the foundation of agriculture.

The range of achievements made by agricultural engineers are diverse and uncountable as more than 50 universities and polytechnics offer the programme at first degree/higher diploma, some up to PhD level. Each year, the institutions produce and package research results from students/staff projects addressed at solving specific agricultural problems. The followings are few of such achievements;

Mechanical Cassava Planter

Cassava is a major food crop in many African countries. The crop tolerates relatively dry and harsh weather conditions experienced in many parts of the African continent. Nigeria and Tanzania are among the major producers. Nigeria remains the dominant World producer with an annual production in excess of 34 million metric tons while Tanzania's production as at 2010 stood at 5.5 million metric tons. Cassava is used as both an industrial crop as well as a food crop for many households in Nigeria. Thus, it can be exported to generate foreign exchange for the country. Cassava production is a highly labour intensive enterprise especially in Nigeria where most production operations particularly planting and harvesting are done manually. A one-row semi-automated mechanical cassava planter was designed and fabricated by the combined efforts of two Nigerian Agricultural Engineers and one Tanzanian Engineer. The Nigerians were Engrs Abdulgafar R. Kamal of National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ilorin and Akeem O. Lawal of NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The Tanzanian was Engr A. M. Kilemwa of Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Tanzania. The objective of their research work was to develop a simple, efficient and affordable planter for small and medium scale farmers. At the end of their research work, the feat was successfully achieved. The single row, tractor drawn planter required one operator who feeds the planting materials as the planter is drawn by a tractor. The results of the field tests were impressive- when the planter was operated at an optimum speed of 3.7 km/h, the planter was able to plant cassava in one hectare within a period of one hour. Traditionally, this will require 20 hefty able men to plant the same area within the same period. The excellent features of this planter are simplicity in design and operation, use of locally available materials for its fabrication, and relatively low cost of construction and maintenance. The planter developed seven years ago is currently being improved as a two row planter. Rather than languishing on the shelf at NCAM as many proven technologies do across Nigeria, Nigerian fabricators and Industrialists could get on board under a suitable arrangement for its commercial production.