UPSC IFOS Agriculture Paper I Syllabus

UPSC IFOS Agriculture Paper I: topic-wise syllabus

1. 1

   Ecology, Environment and Crop Distribution

   • Ecology and its relevance to man
   • Natural resources: 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
   • Environmental pollution and hazards to crops, animals and humans
2. 2

   Cropping Patterns and Crop Production

   • Cropping pattern in agro-climatic zones of India
   • High-yielding and short-duration varieties and shifts in cropping pattern
   • Multiple, multistorey, relay and intercropping
   • Package of practices for cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibres, sugar, commercial and fodder crops
   • Kharif and Rabi crops in different regions
   • Forestry plantations: extension, social forestry, agro-forestry and natural forests
3. 3

   Weeds and Weed Control

   • Characteristics and dissemination of weeds
   • Association of weeds with crops
   • Multiplication of weeds
   • Cultural, biological and chemical weed control
4. 4

   Soil Science and Soil Fertility

   • Physical, chemical and biological properties of soil
   • Processes and factors of soil formation
   • Modern classification of Indian soils
   • Mineral and organic constituents and soil productivity
   • Essential plant nutrients and beneficial elements
   • Soil fertility evaluation and judicious fertilizer use
   • Integrated nutrient management
   • Nitrogen losses, nitrogen-use efficiency in submerged rice soils and nitrogen fixation
   • Fixation and efficient use of phosphorus and potassium
   • Problem soils and their reclamation
5. 5

   Soil Conservation and Dryland Agriculture

   • Soil conservation planning on watershed basis
   • Erosion and run-off management in hilly, foothill and valley lands
   • Dry land agriculture and its problems
   • Stabilising agricultural production in rainfed areas
6. 6

   Irrigation Water Management

   • Water-use efficiency in crop production
   • Criteria for scheduling irrigations
   • Reducing run-off losses of irrigation water
   • Drip and sprinkler irrigation
   • Drainage of water-logged soils
   • Quality of irrigation water
   • Industrial effluents and soil and water pollution
7. 7

   Farm Management and Agricultural Marketing

   • Farm management: scope, importance and characteristics
   • Farm planning, optimum resource use and budgeting
   • Economics of farming systems
   • Marketing and pricing of agricultural inputs and outputs
   • Price fluctuations and their cost
   • Role of co-operatives in the agricultural economy
   • Types and systems of farming
8. 8

   Agricultural Extension

   • Importance and role of agricultural extension
   • Evaluation of extension programmes
   • Socio-economic status of big, small and marginal farmers and landless labourers
   • Farm mechanization, production and rural employment
   • Training programmes for extension workers
   • Lab-to-land programmes