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Who is a Agricultural Inspector?
Agriculture was the first occupation of man, and as it embraces the whole earth, it is the foundation of all other industries ~ E.W. Stewart
An agricultural inspector is a professional who works to prevent food-borne diseases and ensures people consume healthy food. The main role of an agricultural inspector is to do inspections on a regular basis to ensure that the food processed from the crops of the farm or raw meat of the processing facility is healthy for consumption.
The Agricultural Inspector ensures that businesses, products, equipment and sites are legal and comply with the laws and regulations of the government. An individual in this career is expected to identify the potential risks by examining agricultural operations. An Agricultural Inspector also inspects the maintenance and storage of agricultural products and maintains detailed records of his or her inspections or findings.
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Quick Facts for Agricultural Inspector
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Industry
Agriculture
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Suitable for
Male, Female, Others
A career as an agricultural inspector is suited for everyone, regardless of gender. He or she will have a natural curiosity and is more likely to be investigative. Men, women, and others can choose a career as agricultural inspectors. In India, males, females or any other gender enjoys equal benefits as gender is insignificant in this career.
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Any special needs
Yes
A career as an agricultural inspector is not suitable for a person with special needs. He or she is required to travel to farms and other food processing units to collect samples and send them to the lab. It is both a desk and a field job and is required to inspect food processing operations that demand physical fitness.
Table of Contents for Agricultural Inspector
What is the role of Agricultural Inspector?
An agricultural inspector examines the food processing operations such as reports of logging, fishing, and farming operations to make sure that the food received by consumers is healthy for consumption. The agricultural inspector is responsible for the inspection of meat processing units and ensuring it meets safety standards.
The agricultural inspector is required to measure the quality standards of shipment of agriculture and farm products before they cross the border to be sold in another state or country. An agricultural inspector collects the sample of the agricultural products and inspects, drafts a report about their findings, and suggests applicable health recommendations to farmers, and other authoritative bodies.
Examining food
Agricultural inspector examines agriculture commodities and related operations such as fish and logging operations to ensure the operations compliance with law and regulations of government's health, safety and quality standards.
Livestock examination
The Agricultural Inspector roles and responsibilities are to examine the livestock and ensure that they are healthy. It is important to ensure that the livestock from whom we take our dairy and other products are not infected with any kind of disease which can be harmful to human beings.
Ensuring cleanliness
Ensuring cleanliness is another important job responsibility of an agricultural inspector. Slaughterhouses or poultry and dairy farms can be a ground for various diseases which can be quite harmful to human beings. Hence, it is important for them to be clean and the agricultural inspector ensures that such places are clean and hygienic.
Inspection
Agricultural inspectors inspects the transportation and handling procedure to ensure it meets all the regulatory requirements. They inspect horticultural products and livestock to detect harmful disease, or infestation growth rate. Agricultural inspectors also examine livestock to determine the effectiveness of medication and feeding programmes.
Testing
The agricultural inspector roles and responsibilities includes conducting several tests in order to maintain quality. He or she collects samples from livestock, plants, and other products such as the feed given to the animals and sends it to laboratories for testing. The periodic tests conducted by him or her will also help in the prevention of widespread disease among the animals.
Ensuring quality
As an agricultural inspector, it is his or her duty to regularly inspect food processing plants or food manufacturing factories. Bad quality food or ingredients such as additives and compounds that are used to prepare food products can spell disaster for a nation.
Legal proceedings
In an event where there is a violation of food laws, an agricultural inspector might be required to take part in the legal proceedings and provide evidence in the form of test reports.
Report writing
Report writing is again an important aspect of an agricultural inspector's job profile. Writing reports of discoveries or findings during tests or recommending and advising farmers about a particular method, it is all done by the agricultural inspector. Sometimes the reports also include the crop growing procedures or safety regulations.
Types of a Agricultural Inspector
There are several types of an agricultural inspector in the agricultural and food processing industry. We have mentioned below several related agricultural inspector career options.
Plant and Quality Control Technician: The plant and quality control technician is required to examine and test the samples of raw materials and products to ensure he or she meets all the standards regularised by various government bodies. Expertise in lab skills helps the technicians to bag a good amount of salary.
Meat Inspector: Meat inspector examines meat products such as beef, pork, seafood, poultry, and other items. Meat inspectors are also a type of agricultural inspector, examining livestock to ensure that it is not infected with any disease before getting slaughtered.
Animal Health Technician: Animal health technicians work for animals health and ensure that the animal is fit. They also work with veterinarians, scientists, and researchers. The Animal health technicians conduct surgeries on prepping animals, administer medications, carry out lab tests, and record medical history.
Agricultural Manager: Operating farms and other facilities that grow crops are managed by an agricultural manager. Planning, supervising, and occasionally engaging in the process of planting, fertilisation, and harvesting are some of his or her tasks. One of the largest industries and a strong source of jobs throughout the country is the profession of agriculture.
Agricultural Technician: To help farmers operate their businesses, a career as agricultural technician is the right option. He or she uses his or her knowledge of agricultural technology to find the most cost-effective way to manage the land. A career as agricultural technician needs to provide farmers advice on choosing crops based on soil conditions.
Agricultural Engineer: An agricultural engineer plays a vital role in seeking solutions to different farming problems and also in meeting people's agricultural demands. In terms of sustainability, protection, and environmental friendliness, agricultural engineers design and develop new farming techniques and equipment that help make farming more effective. With the aid of new and advanced technology, they improve farming production.
Farm Manager: A farm manager reviews existing operations, crops, livestock, staff, and financial records and recommends improvements to them. He or she makes planting, harvesting plans, schedules and ensures that employees expectations are heard. In order to inspect crops, and animals and even administer soil and water tests, farm managers visit the different divisions.
What is the workplace/work environment of Agricultural Inspector like?
Agricultural inspectors spend much of their time in food-or-meat processing plants. During on-site visits such as inspection of premises of food processing entities, the inspector performs checks on the environment, building, and machinery of the entity. Agricultural inspectors also have to be in noisy surroundings while examining the machinery.
Does Agricultural Inspector require travelling?
Likely
An agriculture inspector’s job involves both types of work on desk and fieldwork as per requirements. An agriculture inspector's work hours are spent in the field visiting farms, food factories and warehouses, ports, and other food processing entities for inspection. His or her career demands travelling to farmlands, and companies such as food processing and meat processing entities.
Time Pressure
Not Likely
There is hardly any time pressure for agricultural inspectors. Agricultural inspectors are required to work as per their schedule which includes responsibilities and inspections assigned to them. The time pressure is almost negligible in the job except for inspection days when the supervisors cross-verify the work of agricultural inspectors.
How to become a Agricultural Inspector?
Steps to become a Agricultural Inspector
An Agricultural Inspector is an expert who verifies that food products, livestock, and crops adhere to the criteria mandated by regulatory bodies. This is a great career choice if you have a strong desire to protect people's lives or health and enjoy working in the agriculture sector. We have included detailed instructions on how to become an agricultural inspector in India below.
What are the skills and qualities required to become a/an Agricultural Inspector?
If you are planning to opt for a career as a agricultural inspector career then this section is for you. You must possess several skills needed for efficient functioning as a agricultural inspector. Have a look at these primary agricultural inspector skills.
Quality Control: An agricultural inspector is required to conduct tests and inspect the products to evaluate the quality of the food material being processed.
Listening: An agricultural inspector must be a good listener to nullify any communication gap between the workers or owner of the food processing entity and himself or herself.
Supervisory Skills: An agricultural inspector is required to monitor the food processing activities from packaging to delivering the food to consumers such as adding preservatives to keep the food fresh, packing, transportation, and other activities related to food safety standards.
Critical Thinking: An agriculture inspector is required to have the critical thinking ability to determine the weakness and strengths of the solutions of the problem using logic and reasoning.
Which certifications and internships can be helpful in becoming Agricultural Inspector?
Internship Availability
The candidates can find agricultural inspector internships in food processing companies and other related industries. Agricultural inspector jobs may require candidates to visit farms for crop and field scouting. They may also be required to perform tasks such as seed delivery and pick-up. The Agricultural inspector interns may be required to perform and test maturity sampling.
Agricultural inspector interns are expected to assist in planting and harvesting operations. They may also be required to keep a record of pesticides used in crops and communicate effectively. Therefore it is important to pursue an internship which will provide hands-on experience and industry insight.
What is the job outlook for Agricultural Inspector?
Agricultural inspector jobs have less growth as compared to other professions. There are fewer hirings in government departments. The growth in population and education may increase the demand for agricultural inspectors in the market. The advancement in technology used in processing methods has lowered the potential job growth in the agriculture inspector job market.
It is expected that numerous agriculture inspectors will retire in the next few years and hence there will be vacancies in the near future. After gaining several years of experience the agriculture inspector could be promoted to a more senior position. An agricultural inspector can also switch to other fields such as public health or conservation.
Frequently Asked Questions for Agricultural Inspector
Que. What are the careers related to Agriculture Inspector?
Ans.The related career options for agricultural inspectors are agricultural worker supervisors, compliance officers and inspectors, construction and building inspectors, food scientists, forestry technicians, agriculture engineers, food inspectors, science technicians, and transportation inspectors.
Que. Is it compulsory to have an agriculture-related degree to become an agriculture inspector?
Ans.Yes, it is mandatory to have a degree related to agriculture to become an agriculture inspector. Training is provided to agriculture inspectors when they join the agriculture department.
Que. Is travelling accommodation provided by an employer for on-site inspection?
Ans.Yes, accommodation is provided by the agriculture department if working in the government sector. In the case of private entities, it depends on their policies, most companies provide travel reimbursement or travel accommodations.
Que. Which is the best agriculture-related degree to pursue after 10+2?
Ans.Students can opt for B.Tech in agriculture to gain knowledge and exposure to agriculture technology. A BSc in agriculture science would also be a good option. There are other options such as a BBM or BBA in agriculture management, or a BA in agriculture.
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Did you know?
Fact 1
It is interesting to know the world’s largest democracy India with a population of 1.38 billion is also the world’s largest producer of milk, jute and pulses.
Fact 2
The contribution of agriculture in India’s GDP has decreased from Rs.5666.82 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 to Rs.4759.48 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
Fact 3
As per the report, the consumption of insecticides has been increased by 100% from 1971 to 1994-95.
