UPSC Agriculture Optional Syllabus 2024 for CSE Mains Paper 1 & 2

Macro topic 

Micro Topics

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).

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.

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.

Weed Science

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

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, and nitrogen fixation in soils.

- Efficient phosphorus and potassium use.

- Problem soils and their reclamation.

- Soil factors affecting greenhouse gas emission.

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, the effect of industrial effluents on soil and water pollution.

- Irrigation projects in India.

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.

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 the dissemination of Agricultural technologies.

- Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and self-help group approach for rural development.

Macro topic

Micro topics

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.

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.

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 its impact on Agriculture.

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.

- Carbohydrates, 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 – draught, salt and water stress.

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.

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.

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 globalisation.

- 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), Micro nutrient deficiency and HRD in the context of the work capacity of women and children.

- Food grain productivity and food security.