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.
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 short-duration
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, agro-forestry, 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 phosphoruse 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, socio-economic 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
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 Gernetically 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.
Intergrated 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 foodgtrains, 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
