UPSC Agriculture Syllabus 2020 - Union Public Service Commission prescribes the syllabus of UPSC Agriculture 2020 subject in official notification. Applicants should prepare UPSC Agriculture 2020 syllabus thoroughly as questions will be asked from this portion only. The authorities will prepare UPSC IAS question papers as per standard syllabus of graduation level. Along with knowing the UPSC Agriculture Syllabus 2020, one should also know the UPSC IAS exam pattern which will help them to qualify the exam. Candidates should note that agriculture is a part of the UPSC IAS syllabus of optional subject for mains exam. UPSC will soon prescribe new dates of Civil Services Exam. Read the complete article to know more about UPSC Agriculture syllabus 2020 in detail.

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UPSC Agriculture Syllabus 2020 - Highlights

• The UPSC IAS mains exam will be conducted in offline mode only.

• The optional subject will be two papers of Agriculture.

• The weightage of UPSC Agriculture optional syllabus subjects will be of 500 marks

• There will be no negative marking in evaluation process

• The level of questions will be easy, medium and difficult and accordingly marks will be allotted in the paper.

UPSC Agriculture Syllabus 2020 for Paper 1

• Soil—physical, chemical & biological properties. Processes and factors of soil formation. Soils of India, Mineral & organic constituents of soils and their role in maintaining soil productivity. Losses of nitrogen in 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. Essential plant nutrients and other beneficial elements in soils and plants. Principles of soil fertility, soil testing and fertiliser recommendations, integrated nutrient management Biofertilizers.

• Ecology and its importance to human beings, natural resources, sustainable management & conservation. Physical and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production. Agro ecology, Cropping pattern related to environment. Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals and humans. Climate change, International conventions and global initiatives. Greenhouse effect and global warming. Advance tools for ecosystem analysis such as Remote Sensing (RS) & 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, scope of various types of forestry plantations such as social forestry, agroforestry, natural forests, Propagation of forest plants. Forest products. Agro-forestry and value addition. Conservation of forest flora and fauna.

• Weeds and their characteristics, dissemination and its association with various other crops; their Government strives to have a workforce which reflects gender balance and women candidates are encouraged to apply. multiplications, cultural, biological, and chemical control of weeds.

• Agricultural extension, its role and importance, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s (KVK) in dissemination of Agricultural technologies. Non-Government Organisation (NGO) and Self-Help Group (SHG) approach for rural development. Socio-economic survey and status of big, small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers; Training programmes for extension workers.

• Soil conservation, integrated watershed management (iwm). Soil erosion & its management. Dry land agriculture and its problems. Technology for stabilising agriculture production in rainfed areas.

• 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. Water-use efficiency in relation to crop production, criteria for scheduling irrigations, ways and means (W & M) of reducing run-off losses of irrigation water.

• 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. Crop Insurance. Price fluctuations & its cost; role of cooperatives in agricultural economy; types and systems of farming and factors affecting them. Agricultural price policy.

UPSC Agriculture Syllabus 2020 for PAPER 2

• 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, euploidy and aneuploidy. Mutation—and their role in crop improvement. Heritability, sterility & 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.

• 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.

• Molecular markers and their application in plant improvement. Pure-line selection, pedigree, mass and recurrent selections, combining ability, its significance in plant breeding.

• 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, Government strives to have a workforce which reflects gender balance and women candidates are encouraged to apply. 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 & 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.

• 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.

• 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. Integrated pest and diseases management. Storage pests and their 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, distribution constraints. Availability of foodgrains, 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 such as Micronutrient 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

UPSC Agriculture 2020 Best books

Applicants can check below given books to prepare UPSC agriculture optional syllabus for UPSC mains exam.

• Genetics by B.D.Singh

• Introduction To Horticulture by Kumar

• Fundamentals Of Agricultural Extension Education by U Barman

• Plant Breeding by B.D. Singh

• Entomology by Vasantha Raj & David

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