Agriculture, its importance in
national economy. Factors determining agroecological zones and geographic
distribution of crop plants.
Importance of crop plants,
cultural practices for cereal, pulses, oilseed, fibre, sugar, tuber and fodder
crops and scientific basis for these crop rotations, multiple and relay
cropping, intercropping and mixed croppin
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g.
Soil as medium of plant growth
and its composition, mineral and organic constituents of the soil and their role
in crop production; chemical, physical and microbiological properties of soils.
Essential plant nutrients (macro and micro)�their functions, occurrence, cycling
in soils Principles of soil fertility and its evaluation for judicious
fertilizer use. Organic manures and bio-fertilizers, inorganic fertilizers,
integrated nutrient management.
Principles of plant physiology
with reference to plant nutrition, absorption, transactions, and metabolism of
nutrients.
Diagnosis of nutrient
deficiencies and their amelioration photosynthesis and respiration, growth and
development, auxins and hormones in plant growth.
Cell and cell organelles. Cell
division. Reproductive cycle, Principles of genetics, gene-interaction, sex
determination, linkage and recombination, mutation, extra chromosomal
inheritance, polyploidy. Origin and domestication of crop plants. Genetic
resources-conservation and utilization. Floral biology in relation to selfing
and crossing.
Genetic basis of plant breeding
pureline selection, mass selection, male sterility and incompatibility and their
use in plant breeding. Pedigree selection, back-cross method of selection.
Heterosis and its exploitation. Development of hybrids, composites and
synthetic, Important varieties, hybrids, composites and synthetic of major
crops. Seeds and seed-production techniques.
Important fruit and vegetable
crops of India, method of propagation�Sexual and asexual. Package and practices
and their scientific basis. Crop rotation, intercropping, companion crops, role
of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, post-harvest handling and
processing of fruits and vegetables. Landscaping and ornamental horticulture,
commercial floriculture. Medicinal and aromatic plants. Serious pests and
diseases affecting major crops. Principles of control of crop pests and
diseases, integrated management. Proper use and maintenance of plant protection
equipment.
Principles of economics as
applied to agriculture. Farm planning and optimum resource�use efficiency and
maximising income and employment. Farm systems and their spatial distribution,
their significant roles in regional economic development.
Mains
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 fertiliser 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 stabilising 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 water-logged 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 labourers; farm mechanization and its role in agricultural
productioin and rural employment. Training programmes for extension workers;
lab-to-land programmes.
Paper-II
Cell Theory, cell structure, cell
organelles and their function, cell division, nucleic acids-structure and
function, gene structure and function. Laws of heredity, their significance in
plant breeding. Chromosome structure, chromosomal aberrations, linkage and
cross-over, and their significance in recombination breeding. Polyploidy,
euploid and an euploids. Mutation-micro and macro-and their role in crop
improvement. Variation, components of variation. 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 and evolution of crop
plants, centre of origin, law of homologous series, crop genetic
resources-conservation and utilization. Application of principles of plant
breeding to the improvement of major field crops. Pure-line selection, pedigree,
mass and recurrent selections, combining ability, its significance in plant
breeding. Hybrid vigour and its exploitation, backcross method of breeding,
breeding for disease and pest resistance, role of interspecific and intergeneric
hybridization. Role of biotechnology in plant breeding. Improved varieties,
hybrids, composites of various crop plants.
Seed technology, its importance.
Different kinds of seeds and their seed production and processing techniques.
Role of public and private sectors in seed production, processing and marketing
in India.
Physiology and its significance
in agriculture. Imbibition, surface tension, diffusion and osmosis. Absorption
and translocation of water, transpiration and water economy.
Enzymes and plant pigments;
photosynthesis-modern concepts and factors affecting the process, aerobic and
nonaerobic respiration; C, C and CAM mechanisms. Carbohydrate, protein and fat
metabolism.
Growth and development;
photoperiodism and vernalization. Auxins, hormones, and other plant regulators
and their mechanism of action and importance in agriculture. Physiology of seed
development and germination; dormancy.
Climatic requirements and
cultivation of major fruits, plants, vegetable crops and flower plants; the
package of practices and their scientific basis. Handling and marketing problems
of fruit and vegetables. Principal methods of preservation of important fruits
and vegetable products, processing techniques and equipment. Role of fruits and
vegetables in human nutriton. Raising of ornamental plants, and design and
layout of lawns and gardens.
Diseases and pests of field
vegetables, orchard and plantation crops of India. Causes and classification of
plant pests and diseases. Principles of control of plant pests and diseases
Biological control of pests and diseases. Integrated pest and disease
management. Epidemiology and forecasting.
Pesticides, their formulations
and modes of action. Compatibility with rhizobial inoculants. Microbial toxins.
Storage pests and diseases of
cereals and pulses, and their control.
Food production and consumption
trends in India. National and international food policies. Production,
procurement, distribution and processing constraints. Relation of food
production to national dietary pattern, major deficiencies of calorie and
protein.