Indian Civil Service Exams (CSE) Syllabus - UPSC Exams

UPSC Exams Indian Civil Services Syllabus for Main Exams: Agriculture

Paper-I

Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Physical and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production. Climatic elements as factors of crop growth, impact of changing environment on cropping pattern as indicators of environments. Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals, and humans.

Cropping pattern in different agro-climatic zones of the country. Impact of high-yielding and short-duration varieties on shifts in cropping pattern. Concepts of multiple cropping, multistorey, relay and inter-cropping, and their importance in relation to food production. Package of practices for production of important cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fibres, sugar, commercial and fodder crops grown during Kharif and Rabi seasons in different regions of the country.

Important features, scope and propagation of various types of forestry plantations such as extension, social forestry, agro-forestry, and natural forests.

Weeds, their characteristics, dissemination and association with various crops; their multiplication; cultural, biological and chemical control of weeds.

Soil-physical, chemical and biological properties. Processes and factors of soil formation. Modern classification of Indian soils, 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 and its evaluation for judicious fertilizer use, integrated nutrient management. Losses of nitrogen in soil, nitrogen-use efficiency in submerged rice soils, nitrogen fixation in soils. Fixation of phosphorus and potassium in soils and the scope for their efficient use. Problem soils and their reclamation methods.

Soil conservation planning on watershed basis. Erosion and run-off management in hilly, foot hills, and valley lands; processes and factors affecting them. Dryland agriculture and its problems. Technology of stabilizing agriculture production in rainfed agriculture area.

Water-use efficiency in relation to crop production, criteria for scheduling irrigations, ways and means of reducing run-off losses of irrigation water. Drip and sprinkler irrigation. Drainage of waterlogged soils, quality of irrigation water, effect of industrial effluents on soil and water pollution.

Farm management, scope, important and characteristics, farm planning. Optimum resources use and budgeting. Economics of different types of farming systems.

Marketing and pricing of agricultural inputs and outputs, price fluctuations and their cost; role of co-operatives in agricultural economy; types and systems of farming and factors affecting them.

Agricultural extension, its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, socio-economic survey and status of big, small, and marginal farmers and landless agricultural laborers; farm mechanization and its role in agricultural production and rural employment. Training programmes for extension workers; lab-to-land programmes.