PAPER ‐ I (subject code 1009)

• Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Physical
  and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production. Agro ecology; cropping pattern as
  indicators of environments. Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals and humans.
  Climate change—International conventions and global initiatives. Green house effect and global warming.
  Advance tools for ecosystem analysis—Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Cropping patterns in different agro-climatic zones of the country. Impact of high-yielding and shortduration
  varieties on shifts in cropping patterns. Concepts of various cropping, and farming systems. Organic
  and Precision farming. Package of practices for production of important cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fibres, sugar,
  commercial and fodder crops.
• Important features, and scope of various types of forestry plantations such as social forestry, agroforestry,
  and natural forests : Propagation of forest plants. Forest products. Agro-forestry and value addition.
  Conservation of forest flora and fauna.
• Weeds, their characteristics, dissemination and association with various crops; their multiplications;
  cultural, biological, and chemical control of weeds.
• Soil—physical, chemical and biological properties. Processes and factors of soil formation. Soils of
  India. Mineral and organic constituents of soils and their role in maintaining soil productivity. Essential plant
  nutrients and other beneficial elements in soils and plants. Principles of soil fertility, soil testing and fertiliser
  recommendations, integrated nutrient management Biofertilizers. Losses of nitrogen in soil, nitrogen-use
  efficiency in submerged rice soils, nitrogen fixation in soils. Efficient phosphorus and potassium use. Problem
  soils and their reclamation. Soil factors affecting green house gas emission.
• Soil conservation, integrated watershed management. Soil erosion and its management. Dry land
  agriculture and its problems. Technology for stabilising agriculture production in rainfed areas.
• Water-use efficiency in relation to crop production, criteria for scheduling irrigations, ways and means of
  reducing run-off losses of irrigation water. Rainwater harvesting. Drip and sprinkler irrigation. Drainage of
  water-logged soils, quality of irrigation water, effect of industrial effluents on soil and water pollution.
  Irrigation projects in India.
• Farm management, scope, importance and characteristics, farm planning. Optimum resource use and
  budgeting. Economics of different types of farming systems. Marketing management strategies for
  development, market intelligence. Price fluctuations and their cost; role of co-operatives in agricultural
  economy; types and systems of farming and factors affecting them. Agricultural price policy. Crop Insurance.
• Agricultural extension, its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, socioeconomic
  survey and status of big, small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers; Training
  programmes for extension workers. Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s (KVK) in dissemination of Agricultural
  technologies. Non-Government Organisation (NGO) and self-help group approach for rural development.

PAPER‐II (subject code 1010)

• Cell structure, function and cell cycle. Synthesis, structure and function of genetic material. Laws of
  heredity. Chromosome structure, chromosomal aberrations, linkage and cross-over, and their significance in
  recombination breeding. Polyploidy, euploids and aneuploids. Mutation—and their role in crop improvement.
  Heritability, sterility and incompatibility, classification and their application in crop improvement. Cytoplasmic
  inheritance, sex-linked, sex-influenced and sex-limited characters.
• History of plant breeding. Modes of reproduction, selfing and crossing techniques. Origin, evolution and
  domestication of crop plants, center of origin, law of homologous series, crop genetic resources—conservation
  and utilization. Application of principles of plant breeding, improvement of crop plants. Molecular markers and
  their application in plant improvement. Pure-line selection, pedigree, mass and recurrent selections, combining ability, its significance in plant breeding. Heterosis and its exploitation. Somatic hybridization. Breeding for
  disease and pest resistance. Role of interspecific and intergeneric hybridization. Role of genetic engineering
  and biotechnology in crop improvement Genetically modified crop plants.
• Seed production and processing technologies. Seed certification, Seed testing and storage. DNA finger
  printing and seed registration. Role of public and private sectors in seed production, and marketing. Intellectual
  Property Rights (IPR) issues, WTO issues and its impact on Agriculture.
• Principles of Plant Physiology with reference to plant nutrition, absorption, translocation and metabolism
  of nutrients. Soil-water-plant relationship.
• Enzymes and plant pigments; photosynthesis—modern concepts and factors affecting the process,
  aerobic and anaerobic respiration; C3, C4 and CAM mechanisms. Carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism.
  Growth and development; photoperiodism and vernalization. Plant growth substances and their role in crop
  production. Physiology of seed development and germination; dormancy. Stress physiology—draught, salt and
  water stress.
• Major fruits, plantation crops, vegetables, spices and flower crops. Package practices of major
  horticultural crops. Protected cultivation and high tech horticulture. Post-harvest technology and value addition
  of fruits and vegetables. Landscaping and commercial floriculture. Medicinal and aromatic plants. Role of
  fruits and vegetables in human nutrition.
• Diagnosis of pests and diseases of field crops, vegetables, orchard and plantation crops and their
  economic importance. Classification of pests and diseases and their management. Integrated pest and diseases
  management. Storage pests and their management. Biological control of pests and diseases. Epidemiology and
  forecasting of major crop pests and diseases. Plant quarantine measures. Pesticides, their formulation and
  modes of action.
• Food production and consumption trends in India. Food security and growing population—vision 2020.
  Reasons for grain surplus. National and International food policies. Production, procurement, distribution
  constraints. Availability of food grains, per capita expenditure on food. Trends in poverty, Public Distribution
  System and Below Poverty Line population, Targeted Public Distribution System (PDS), policy
  implementation in context to globalization. Processing constraints. Relation of food production to National
  Dietary Guidelines and food consumption pattern. Food based dietary approaches to eliminate hunger. Nutrient
  deficiency—Micro nutrient deficiency: Protein Energy Malnutrition or Protein Calorie Malnutrition (PEM or
  PCM), Micro nutrient deficiency and HRD in context of work capacity of women and children. Food grain
  productivity and food security.