UPSC Optional Subject Syllabus: Agriculture | Agriculture Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

Paper - I

1. Ecology

• Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation
• Physical and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production
• Agroecology, cropping patterns as indicators of environments
• Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals, and humans
• Climate change – international conventions and global initiatives; Greenhouse effect and global warming
• Advanced tools for ecosystem analysis – Remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

2. Agronomy

• 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, oilseeds, fibres, sugar, commercial, and fodder crops

3. Forestry

• Important features and scope of various types of forestry plantations, such as social forestry, agroforestry, and natural forests
• Propagation of forest plants; Forest products
• Agroforestry and value addition
• Conservation of forest flora and fauna

4. Weed Science

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

5. Soil Science and Nutrient Management

• 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 the 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 greenhouse gas emission

6. Soil and Water Conservation

• Soil conservation, integrated watershed management
• Soil erosion and its management
• Dryland 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 runoff losses of irrigation water
• Rainwater harvesting
• Drip and sprinkler irrigation
• Drainage of waterlogged soils, quality of irrigation water, effect of industrial effluents on soil and water pollution
• Irrigation projects in India

7. Agricultural Economics

• 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 and market intelligence
• Price fluctuations and their cost; role of cooperatives in agricultural economy; types and systems of farming and factors affecting them
• Agricultural price policy
• Crop Insurance

8. Agricultural Extension

• 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 Organizations (NGO) and self-help group approach for rural development

Paper - II

1. Cell Biology/Plant Genetics

• 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
• Mutations – 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

2. Plant Breeding

• History of plant breeding; Modes of reproduction, selfing, and crossing techniques
• Origin, evolution, and domestication of crop plants, centre of origin, law of homologous series, crop genetic resources conservation and utilization
• Application of principles of plant breeding, and improvement of crop plants
• Molecular markers and their application in plant improvement
• Pure-line selection, pedigree, mass, and recurrent selections, combining ability, and 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

3. Seed Production and Technology

• Seed production and processing technologies
• Seed certification, seed testing, and storage
• DNA fingerprinting and seed registration
• Role of public and private sectors in seed production and marketing
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues, WTO issues, and their impact on agriculture

4. Plant Physiology

• 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 vernalisation
• Plant growth substances and their role in crop production
• Physiology of seed development and germination; dormancy
• Stress physiology – drought, salt, and water stress

5. Horticulture and Landscaping

• 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

6. Plant Protection

• 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 disease 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

7. Food Production and Nutrition Management

• 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, and 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 patterns
• Food-based dietary approaches to eliminate hunger
• Nutrient deficiency – Micronutrient deficiency; Protein Energy Malnutrition or Protein Calorie Malnutrition (PEM or PCM), Micronutrient deficiency, and HRD in the context of work capacity of women and children
• Food grain productivity and food security