UPSC Agriculture Optional
Complete Syllabus

Ecosystem concept & structure Biotic & abiotic components Food chains & food webs Energy flow through ecosystems Biogeochemical cycles (N C P S Water) Ecological succession Biomes of India & world Biodiversity — types hotspots threats Conservation strategies — in-situ ex-situ Wildlife Protection Act & Forest Conservation Act

Cropping patterns as environmental indicators Agroclimatic zones of India (15 zones) Environmental pollution effects on crops Industrial effluents & heavy metal toxicity Pesticide contamination of soil & water

Greenhouse gases (CO2 CH4 N2O) Global warming & agriculture impact Paris Agreement Kyoto Protocol COP summits key decisions Carbon sequestration in agriculture Climate-smart agriculture strategies

RS principles & crop area estimation GIS for land use planning RESOURCESAT satellite applications Precision farming using GIS & GPS

Tillage — types objectives conservation tillage Crop stand establishment Seed bed preparation Sowing methods & plant geometry Crop density & plant population Crop growth analysis — CGR RGR NAR LAI

Cropping patterns in agroclimatic zones Multiple cropping — relay inter mixed sequence Cropping system intensification Farming systems — integrated & diversified Organic farming — principles & certification Sustainable agriculture & conservation agriculture

Rice — varieties agronomy water management Maize — hybrid production agronomy Sorghum Bajra — dryland agronomy Pulses — Urd Moong Arhar Soybean Oilseeds — Groundnut Sesame Castor Cotton — varieties spacing nutrition Sugarcane — planting methods ratoon management Jute — retting & fibre quality

Wheat — varieties agronomy irrigation Barley Oats — dual purpose Mustard — varieties & agronomy Chickpea Lentil Pea — pulse agronomy Potato — seed production agronomy Tobacco — types curing Fodder crops — Berseem Lucerne Napier Oats

Essential plant nutrients — functions deficiency symptoms Manures & fertilizers — types & application Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) Biofertilizers — Rhizobium Azotobacter PSB Fertilizer use efficiency & methods of application Soil testing & fertilizer recommendations

Irrigation scheduling — IW/CPE ratio Methods of irrigation — surface drip sprinkler Water use efficiency & water productivity Waterlogging — causes & remedial measures Drainage — surface & sub-surface Conjunctive use of water

Dryland vs rainfed — concepts Moisture conservation techniques — mulching contour bunding Contingent crop planning Watershed management — principles & planning In-situ & ex-situ moisture conservation Dry farming technologies

Weed classification — narrow-leaved broad-leaved sedges Biology of important weeds — Cyperus Phalaris Echinochloa Parthenium Crop-weed competition — critical period of crop-weed competition Weed indices — WCI WI Allelopathy & its applications Weed seed bank & dormancy

Cultural methods — crop rotation intercropping stale seed bed Mechanical methods — hand weeding hoeing Chemical weed control — pre & post emergence herbicides Herbicide classification & mode of action Herbicide selectivity & resistance Integrated Weed Management (IWM) Biological weed control Herbicide residues in soil & crops

Agrisilviculture — trees with crops Silvopastoral — trees with pasture Agrisilvopastoral — trees crops pasture Home gardens — multi-tier systems Alley cropping — hedgerow intercropping Taungya system — shifting cultivation alternative Trees outside forests (TOF)

Social forestry — objectives & programmes Farm forestry — scope & importance Forest policy of India — 1894 1952 1988 National Forest Policy 1988 Joint Forest Management (JFM) Community forestry Van Panchayats CAMPA & Green India Mission

Important timber species — Teak Sal Shisham Eucalyptus MPTs — Subabul Neem Gliricidia Casuarina Nursery techniques — seed treatment containers Silvicultural systems — coppice selection shelterwood Wasteland development & afforestation Forest mensuration basics

Soil texture — sand silt clay classification Soil structure — types & management Bulk density & particle density Porosity & pore size distribution Soil consistency & Atterberg limits Soil colour & Munsell notation Soil temperature & thermal properties Soil air — aeration & gaseous exchange

Soil colloids — types properties charge Clay minerals — kaolinite montmorillonite illite Cation exchange capacity (CEC) Anion exchange capacity (AEC) Soil pH — acidic alkaline saline sodic Base saturation & buffering capacity Soil organic matter — humus formation C:N ratio & decomposition

Soil profile — horizons A B C R Soil forming factors — Jenny equation Soil classification — USDA taxonomy orders Soil survey — methods mapping Major soil types of India — Alluvial Black Red Laterite Problem soils — saline sodic acid Soil health cards & soil testing

Soil erosion — types agents factors Water erosion — sheet rill gully Wind erosion — saltation suspension creep Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) Contour bunding & terracing Grassed waterways & check dams Strip cropping & shelter belts Reclamation of eroded lands

Watershed — concept & delineation Watershed development programmes — IWMP PMKSY Micro-watershed planning Rainwater harvesting — farm ponds percolation tanks Water budgeting & water balance Command area development Participatory approach in watershed management

Saline soils — characteristics & management Sodic/Alkali soils — gypsum requirement reclamation Acid soils — liming & management Waterlogged soils — drainage Soil amendments — organic & inorganic Salt-tolerant crop varieties

Farm planning & budgeting Cost concepts — A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 C3 Farm efficiency measures Production function — Cobb-Douglas Factor-product factor-factor product-product relationships Returns to scale Risk & uncertainty in agriculture

Agricultural marketing — functions channels Market structure — perfect & imperfect competition Price determination — demand & supply Agricultural price policy — MSP FRP APMC & e-NAM Contract farming & FPOs WTO & Agreement on Agriculture Food processing & value addition

Agricultural credit — institutional & non-institutional NABARD & cooperative credit structure Crop insurance — PMFBY Land reforms & tenancy Agricultural taxation Five Year Plans & agriculture National Agricultural Policy Doubling Farmers Income — strategies

Extension education — meaning philosophy principles Communication process — models elements barriers Teaching & learning process Extension teaching methods — individual group mass Audio-visual aids in extension Adoption & diffusion of innovations — Rogers model Adopter categories — innovators laggards

T&V system — Training & Visit ATMA — Agricultural Technology Management Agency KVK — Krishi Vigyan Kendra — role & functions ICAR-SAU extension system Farmers Field School (FFS) ICT in agricultural extension Digital agriculture & e-extension PRA & RRA — Participatory Rural Appraisal

Rural sociology — social structure & institutions Programme planning — steps & evaluation Leadership & group dynamics Community organization NGOs in agricultural development Gender mainstreaming in agriculture

Cell structure — prokaryotic & eukaryotic Cell organelles — mitochondria chloroplast ER Golgi Cell division — mitosis & meiosis Chromosome structure — morphology & nomenclature Chromosome aberrations — structural & numerical Polyploidy & aneuploidy Karyotype analysis

Laws of inheritance — segregation independent assortment Incomplete dominance & codominance Multiple alleles — blood groups Epistasis — types & ratios Linkage & crossing over — mapping Sex-linked inheritance Cytoplasmic inheritance — maternal effects Quantitative inheritance — polygenic traits

DNA structure & replication Transcription & translation Gene regulation — Lac operon Mutations — types causes mutagenesis Recombinant DNA technology PCR RFLP RAPD SSR markers Gene cloning & vectors Transgenic crops — Bt cotton Golden Rice Genome sequencing — applications Gene editing — CRISPR-Cas9 basics Bioinformatics basics

Pure line selection Mass selection Pedigree method Bulk method Single Seed Descent (SSD) Backcross breeding Multiline varieties

Mass selection — ear-to-row Recurrent selection — simple & reciprocal Synthetics & composites Hybrid development — inbreeding depression Heterosis — types & exploitation CMS & genetic male sterility Double cross & three-way cross hybrids

Mutation breeding — physical & chemical mutagens Polyploidy breeding — autopolyploidy allopolyploidy Wide hybridization & interspecific crosses Breeding for disease & pest resistance — vertical horizontal Breeding for stress tolerance — drought salinity Ideotype breeding — Donald concept Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB)

Green Revolution — varieties & impact Major released varieties — Rice Wheat Pulses Oilseeds Hybrid varieties in major crops Plant Variety Protection — PPV&FR Act 2001 ICAR crop improvement programmes International centres — IRRI CIMMYT ICRISAT

Water potential — components & significance Absorption of water — active & passive Transpiration — mechanism factors antitranspirants Stomatal physiology — opening & closing Mineral nutrition — essential elements criteria Nutrient absorption — active & passive transport Deficiency symptoms of macro & micronutrients Hydroponics & nutrient film technique

Photosynthesis — light & dark reactions C3 C4 CAM pathways Photorespiration & its significance Factors affecting photosynthesis Respiration — glycolysis TCA cycle ETC Aerobic & anaerobic respiration Respiratory quotient (RQ) Fermentation

Plant growth regulators — Auxin Gibberellin Cytokinin ABA Ethylene Photoperiodism — SDP LDP DNP Vernalization — mechanism & significance Dormancy — types & breaking Senescence & abscission Stress physiology — drought heat cold salt Nitrogen metabolism — nitrogen fixation Lipid metabolism & fat synthesis

Seed structure — monocot & dicot Seed development & maturation Seed dormancy — types & mechanisms Seed germination — physiology & factors Seed production — nucleus breeder foundation certified Seed certification — standards & agencies Seed village concept

Seed quality parameters — genetic physical physiological Seed testing — ISTA rules Germination testing — methods & standards Seed vigour — concept & tests Seed health testing Seed treatment — fungicides insecticides bioagents Seed storage — principles & conditions Seed deterioration — factors & prevention Seed Act & Seeds Bill DUS testing — Distinctness Uniformity Stability

Mango — varieties propagation bearing habit Banana — tissue culture sucker selection Citrus — rootstocks budding management Grapes — training pruning varieties Guava — canopy management Apple — pollination requirements chilling Papaya — sex types varieties Litchi Sapota Pomegranate — agronomy Protected cultivation of fruits

Tomato Brinjal Chilli Capsicum — varieties agronomy Cucurbits — Cucumber Bottle gourd Watermelon Cole crops — Cauliflower Cabbage Broccoli Knol-khol Root crops — Carrot Radish Turnip Beet Onion Garlic — varieties storage Potato — seed production TPS Peas Beans — varieties Okra — varieties & hybrid seed production Off-season vegetable production

Rose Jasmine Marigold Tuberose Gladiolus Chrysanthemum Commercial flower production & export Post-harvest handling of cut flowers Spices — Black pepper Cardamom Turmeric Ginger Cinnamon Plantation crops — Tea Coffee Rubber Coconut Arecanut Oil palm Landscape gardening — principles & styles Medicinal & aromatic plants — Ashwagandha Tulsi Lemongrass

Maturity indices & harvesting Pre-cooling & cold storage Ripening technology — ethylene CaC2 Packaging — MAP & vacuum packing Value addition — jam jelly pickle juice Food preservation methods Supply chain & cold chain management

History of plant pathology — milestones Koch postulates & disease diagnosis Disease triangle — host pathogen environment Classification of plant pathogens — fungi bacteria virus nematode Disease development — infection cycle inoculum Epidemiology — factors affecting epidemics Disease forecasting models

Rice — Blast Brown spot BLB Sheath blight Wheat — Rust (stem leaf stripe) Karnal bunt Loose smut Pulses — Wilt Rust Blight Oilseeds — White rust Alternaria Cotton — Bacterial blight Wilt Leaf curl Sugarcane — Red rot Smut Grassy shoot Potato — Late blight Early blight Vegetables — Damping off Powdery mildew Downy mildew Fruits — Anthracnose Canker Dieback Panama wilt

Cultural methods — crop rotation sanitation Chemical control — fungicides types classification Biological control — Trichoderma Pseudomonas Host plant resistance — types of resistance Integrated Disease Management (IDM) Plant quarantine — principles & regulations Seed-borne diseases & management

Insect morphology — body regions appendages Insect physiology — moulting metamorphosis Classification of insects — important orders Types of insect damage — direct & indirect Insect ecology — population dynamics Pest surveillance & ETL EIL concepts

Rice — Stem borer BPH Leaf folder Gall midge Wheat — Termites Aphid Cotton — Bollworms Whitefly Jassid Pulses — Pod borer Bruchids Sugarcane — Top borer Early shoot borer Oilseeds — Aphid Diamond-back moth Hairy caterpillar Vegetables — Fruit borer Shoot & Fruit borer DBM Fruits — Fruit fly Mango hopper Mealybug Stored grain pests — Sitophilus Tribolium Callosobruchus

Cultural methods — trap crops timing Chemical control — insecticide classification Botanical pesticides — Neem Pyrethrum Biological control — parasitoids predators NPV Pheromone traps & light traps Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Pesticide Act & regulations Resistance management — IRM strategy

India food production scenario — trends & challenges Food security — concept dimensions National Food Security Act 2013 PDS — Public Distribution System Buffer stock & food grain management FCI — role & reforms Minimum Support Price — determination & issues Food inflation — causes & remedies

Food processing — primary secondary tertiary Food preservation — canning drying freezing irradiation Food adulteration & detection FSSAI — role standards regulations Codex Alimentarius — international standards Food fortification — iron folic acid vitamin A Quality control & HACCP Food labelling & packaging standards

PM-KISAN & DBT in agriculture PMFBY — crop insurance PM-KUSUM — solar for agriculture e-NAM — online market platform Soil Health Card scheme Organic farming schemes — PKVY MOVCDNER Agricultural export policy Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) One District One Product (ODOP)