Building on our past to engineer the future

Authors: Butts, Christopher - Chris; VALENTINE, HOWARD - The Peanut Foundation

Submitted to: Peanut Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/11/2019
Publication Date: 7/10/2019
Citation: Butts, C.L., Valentine, H. 2019. Building on our past to engineer the future. Peanut Science. 46(1A):82-90. https://doi.org/10.3146/0095-3679-46.1A.82.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3146/0095-3679-46.1A.82

Interpretive Summary: The art of engineering has had a major impact on agricultural production. Agricultural mechanization has been cited as one of the twenty most significant fetes of engineering in the 20th century. As we look through the titles of articles published in Peanut Science since its inception in 1974, we can see the breadth of engineering research and innovation that has impacted the peanut industry ranging from land preparation and seed handling to produce the crop to innovations in irrigation, harvesting, curing, storing, shelling, and transportation. While engineers have made significant impacts on the peanut industry during the 50-year existence of the American Peanut Research and Education Society, they have not made those innovations in a vacuum, but have attacked problems with multidisciplinary teams that involved the expertise of agronomists, pathologists, entomologists, food scientists, and economists just to name a few. This article highlights some of the engineering innovations made in the peanut industry during the past 50 or so years and looks ahead at what engineering obstacles must be overcome in the next 50 years.

Technical Abstract: The art of engineering has had a major impact on agricultural production. Agricultural mechanization has been cited as one of the twenty most significant fetes of engineering in the 20th century. As we look through the titles of articles published in Peanut Science since its inception in 1974, we can see the breadth of engineering research and innovation that has impacted the peanut industry ranging from land preparation and seed handling to produce the crop to innovations in irrigation, harvesting, curing, storing, shelling, and transportation. While engineers have made significant impacts on the peanut industry during the 50-year existence of the American Peanut Research and Education Society, they have not made those innovations in a vacuum, but have attacked problems with multidisciplinary teams that involved the expertise of agronomists, pathologists, entomologists, food scientists, and economists just to name a few. This article highlights some of the engineering innovations made in the peanut industry during the past 50 or so years and looks ahead at what engineering obstacles must be overcome in the next 50 years.