Syllabus
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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.
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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.
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Important features, scope and propagation of
various types of forestry plantations such as extension, social forestry,
agro-forestry, and natural forests.
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Weeds, their characteristics, dissemination
and association with various crops; their multiplication; cultural, biological
and chemical control of weeds.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Farm management, scope, important and characteristics,
farm planning. Optimum resources use and budgeting. Economics of different
types of farming systems.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Physiology and its significance in agriculture.
Imbibition, surface tension, diffusion and osmosis. Absorption and translocation
of water, transpiration and water economy.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Pesticides, their formulations and modes of
action. Compatibility with rhizobial inoculants. Microbial toxins.
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Storage pests and diseases of cereals and pulses,
and their control.
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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.
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