BPSC Bihar Block Agriculture Officer Recruitment - Syllabus (Plant Protection)

BPSC Bihar Block Agriculture Officer Recruitment 2024 - Syllabus  (Plant Protection) 

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Syllabus for Bihar Agriculture Service Category-5 (Plant Protection) Paper-1:

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I. Agronomy:

• Meaning and scope of Agronomy
• National and International Agricultural Research Institutes of India
• Agro-climatic zones of India and Bihar
• Weather and climate, micro-climate, weather elements
• Formation and classification of clouds
• Basics of weather forecasting
• Dry land agriculture
• Area, production, and productivity of major crops in India and Bihar
• Tillage and crop stand establishment
• Planting geometry and its effect on growth and yields of cropping systems
• Harvesting
• Classification of crops
• Concept of multiple cropping, multistoried, relay, and inter-cropping and their importance in relation to food production
• Basic elements of crop production
• Factors affecting crop production
• Irrigation: definition, objectives, water resources, and irrigation development in India and Bihar
• Soil-plant-water relationships
• Definition, principles, and components of organic farming
• Sustainable agriculture: Introduction, definition, goal, and current concepts
• Factors affecting ecological balance and ameliorative measures
• Land degradation and conservation of natural resources
• Definition, principles, and components of farming systems

II. Remote Sensing, GIS, and Soil Science:

• Application of Remote Sensing, GPS, and GIS techniques in agriculture
• Pedological and Edaphological concepts
• Earth Crust, Composition, and weathering of rocks and minerals
• Factors and processes of soil formation
• Types of soil, production importance, and their management
• Concept of soil quality and soil health: physical, chemical, and biological indicators of soil quality
• Movement of soil water
• Soil health assessment techniques
• Soil as a source of plant nutrients
• Criteria of nutrients essentiality and their function, forms of nutrients in soil
• Mechanism of nutrient transport to plants and factors affecting nutrient availability to plants
• Acidic, calcareous, and salt-affected soils: their characteristics, nutrient availabilities, and reclamation (Mechanical, chemical, and biological methods)
• Fertilizer and insecticides and their effect on soil
• Indian standards for water quality
• Use of saline water in agriculture
• Different approaches to soil fertility evaluation

III. Plant Breeding and Genetics:

• Indian history of Plant Breeding
• Major objectives and achievements of plant breeding in India
• Centre of diversity and its importance in crop improvement
• Nature of Pollination of crops
• Parthenocarpy in plants
• Germplasm conservation and its utilization
• Concept of gene and gene pool
• Hybridization and methods of handling segregating generations
• Mass selection, back-cross method, recurrent selection
• Crop ideotype-concept and importance
• Male sterility and self-incompatibility: mechanism and their utilization in crop improvement
• Pureline, Synthetic, and composite variety and their development
• Hybrid production and importance in different crop plants
• Wide hybridization and constraints related to it
• Mutation and types of mutagens
• Quantitative and qualitative characters
• Components of genetic variation, correlation, and regression
• Cell division: mitosis and meiosis
• Mendel’s laws of inheritance and their exceptions
• Linkage and crossing over
• Polyploidy and its importance in crop breeding
• Totipotency in plant meristem culture, anther culture
• Transgenic- achievements and future prospects
• Plant breeder’s rights and regulation for plant variety protection
• Basic principles of seed production, kinds of seed, and Indian Seed Act 1966

IV. Entomology and Plant Pathology:

• Economic importance of insects
• General morphology and anatomy of insects
• Classification of insects
• Apiculture, sericulture, and lac culture
• Important insect and non-insect pests of important field crops, vegetables, orchard, and plantation crops and their management
• Storage pests and their management
• Integrated pest management
• Biological control of pests
• Plant quarantine measures
• Different categories of pesticides, their formulation, and modes of action
• Insect toxicology and concept of LD50/LC50, MRL, and waiting period
• Recent techniques of pest management
• Plant protection equipment and its application in pest management
• Insecticide act, 1968 and rules, 1971

V. Plant Pathology and Nematology:

• Introduction, important plant pathogenic organisms: fungi, bacteria, fastidious vesicular bacteria, phytoplasmas, Spiro plasmas, viruses, viroids, algae, Protozoa, and phanerogamic parasites with examples of diseases caused by them
• Prokaryotes; classification of prokaryotes according to Bergey’s Manual of systematic Bacteriology
• General characters, reproduction, and classification of fungi
• Definition and objectives of Plant Pathology
• Survival and Dispersal of Plant Pathogens
• Plant disease epidemiology
• General principles of plant diseases management
• Integrated plant disease management (IDM)
• Economic importance, symptoms, causes, epidemiology, and disease cycle of important diseases of field crops, vegetables, horticultural crops, and their management
• General characteristics of plant pathogenic nematodes, its morphology, and biology
• Classification of nematodes up to family level with emphasis
• General symptoms caused by nematodes and their management

VI. Agriculture Economics and Extension:

• Public Finance: Meaning, Principle, Sources
• Direct Tax, Indirect Tax
• Nationalized and Commercial Banking System
• Agricultural Credit, Agricultural Co-operative Structure and Function
• Agricultural Marketing: Definition, classification, marketable surplus, and marketed surplus
• Marketing Channel, Price-Spread, Market Structure
• Agricultural Price Policy
• FC1, SWC, CWC, APMC, State Trading
• Production Economics: Classical Production Function, Relationships between output and input
• Agri-Business Management, Product Life Cycle, Marketing mix
• Capital Management, Balance Sheet, project loss statement, Project Life Cycle
• Definition and importance of horticulture
• Classification of horticulture
• Area and production of different fruit, vegetables, and flower crops
• Planting systems, high-density planting, planning, and establishment of new orchards
• Propagation methods and use of growth regulators in horticultural crops
• Package of practices of important fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops
• Maturity indices, harvesting, and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables
• Pre-harvest factors affecting quality and postharvest shelf life of fruits and vegetables
• Principles of preservation by heat, low temperature, chemicals, and fermentation
• Preparation of jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, ketchup, sauce

VII. Agricultural Extension and Altitude:

• Agricultural extension, its importance
• Extension teaching methods
• Etawah Pilot Project
• Community Development Programme
• Panchayati Raj System
• High Yielding Variety Programme
• National Demonstration Programme
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra
• ATMA
• Institutional Village Linkage Programme (IVLP)
• IRDP, Demonstrations, Leadership
• Knowledge, Skill, Training, Communication skill
• Local leaders, Adoption, and Diffusion
• Innovations and their characteristics
• Kisan Call Centers
• Entrepreneurship in Agriculture
• SWOT analysis

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Syllabus for Bihar Agriculture Service Category-5 (Plant Protection) Paper-2:

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I. History of Entomology and Insect Ecology:

• History of Entomology in India
• Factors for insect abundance
• Metamorphosis and diapause in insects
• Types of larvae and pupae
• Structure and functions of digestive, circulatory, excretory, respiratory, nervous, secretory (Endocrine), and reproductive systems in insects
• Types of reproduction in insects
• Classification of class Insects up to Orders
• Insect Ecology: Introduction, Environment, and its components
• Effect of abiotic factors: temperature, moisture, humidity, rainfall, light, atmospheric pressure, and air currents
• Effect of biotic factors: food competition, natural and environmental resistance
• Concept of Balance of life in nature, biotic potential, and environmental resistance
• Causes for outbreaks of pests in agro-ecosystems
• Pest surveillance and pest forecasting
• Categories of pests

II. Integrated Pest Management (IPM):

• Introduction, importance, concept, principles, and tools of IPM
• Host plant resistance
• Cultural, Mechanical, Physical, Legislative, Biological methods of control (parasites, predators & transgenic plant pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses)
• Chemical control: importance, hazards, and limitations
• Classification of insecticides
• Toxicity of insecticides and formulations of insecticides
• Study of important insecticides
• Botanical insecticides: neem-based products, Cyclodiens, Organophosphates, Carbamates, Synthetic pyrethroids, Novel insecticides, Pheromones, Nicotinyl insecticides, Chitin synthesis inhibitors, Phenyl pyrazoles, Avermectins, Macrocyclic lactones, Oxadiazimes, Thiourea derivatives, pyridine azomethines, pyrroles, etc.
• Nematicides, Rodenticides, Acaricides, and fumigants
• Recent methods of pest control
• Practices, scope, and limitations of IPM
• Insecticides Act 1968: Important provisions
• Application techniques of spray fluids
• Phytotoxicity of insecticides
• Symptoms of poisoning, first aid, and antidotes
• Beneficial insects: parasites and predators used in pest control and their mass multiplication techniques
• Important groups of microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, and fungi used in pest control and their mass multiplication techniques
• Important species of pollinators, weed killers, and scavengers - their importance

III. Plant Pathology and Disease Management:

• Importance of plant diseases
• Causes of diseases
• Different groups of plant pathogens: fungi, bacteria, fastidious vesicular bacteria, phytoplasmas, spiroplasmas, viruses, viriods, algae, protozoa, and phanerogamic parasites with examples of diseases caused by them
• History of Plant Pathology
• Bengal famine, Irish famine, and other important examples of economic consequences of plant diseases
• Terms and concepts in Plant Pathology
• Examples of Endemic, sporadic, epidemic, and pandemic diseases
• Phenomenon of infection: pre-penetration, penetration, and post-penetration
• Pathogenesis
• Defense mechanism in plants: Structural and Bio-chemical (pre and post-infection)
• Etiology, symptomatology, and Epidemiology of some economically important plant diseases
• Survival and dispersal of Plant Pathogens
• Diseases management: Importance, general Principles
• Avoidance, exclusion, protection
• Plant Quarantine and Inspection
• Quarantine Rules and Regulations
• Cultural methods
• Rouging, eradication of alternate and collateral hosts, crop rotation, manure, and fertilizer management, mixed cropping, sanitation, hot weather plowing, soil amendments, time of sowing, seed rate, and plant density, irrigation, and drainage
• Role and mechanisms of biological control and PGPR
• Physical Methods: solar energy and hot water treatment
• Chemical methods
• Classification of fungicides
• Discovery of Bordeaux mixture, method of preparation of Bordeaux mixture
• Important systemic and contact fungicides, antibiotics and their mode of action
• Methods of application of fungicides
• Host plant resistance
• Integrated plant disease management (IDM): Concept and advantages

IV. Non-Insect Pests and Nematology:

• Non-insect pests: mites, nematodes, rodents, and birds
• Venniculture Distribution, biology, nature, and symptoms of damage
• Management strategies of pests of important crops of Bihar and the country
• History of phytonematology
• Economic importance
• General characteristics of plant pathogenic nematodes
• Study of White tip of paddy, ear cockle of wheat, root knot of tomato & brinjal
• Interaction between plant parasitic nematodes and disease-causing fungi, bacteria, and viruses
• Different methods of nematode management
• Cultural methods: crop rotation, fallowing, soil amendments, other land management techniques
• Physical methods: soil solarization, hot water treatment
• Biological methods
• Chemical methods: fumigants, non-fumigants
• Resistant varieties
• IDM

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BPSC Bihar Block Agriculture Officer Recruitment 2014 - Syllabus  (Plant Protection) 

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Syllabus for Bihar Agriculture Service Category-5 (Plant Protection) Paper-1:

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Lecture 1: Agronomy and Agricultural Research

• Meaning and scope of Agronomy
• National and International Agricultural Research Institutes of India
• Agro-climatic zones of India and Bihar
• Weather and climate, micro-climate
• Weather elements, Formation and classification of clouds
• Basics of weather forecasting
• Dry land agriculture
• Area, production, and productivity of major crops in India and Bihar
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 2: Crop Production and Management

• Tillage, crop stand establishment
• Planting geometry and its effect on growth and yields of cropping systems
• Harvesting
• Classification of crops
• Concept of multiple cropping, multistoried, relay, and intercropping
• Basic elements of crop production
• Factors affecting crop production
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 3: Irrigation, Organic Farming, and Sustainable Agriculture

• Irrigation: Definition and objectives
• Water resources and irrigation development in India and Bihar
• Soil-plant water relationships
• Definition, principles, and components of organic farming
• Sustainable agriculture: Introduction, definition, goal, and current concepts
• Factors affecting ecological balance and ameliorative measures
• Land degradation and conservation of natural resources
• Definition, principles, and components of farming systems
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 4: Soil Science and Nutrient Management

• Pedological and Edaphological concepts
• Earth Crust, Composition, and weathering of rocks and minerals
• Factors and processes of soil formation
• Types of soil, production importance, and their management
• Concept of soil quality and soil health
• Movement of soil water
• Soil health assessment techniques
• Soil as a source of plant nutrients
• Criteria of nutrients essentiality and their function
• Forms of nutrient in soil
• Mechanism of nutrient transport to plants
• Fertilizer and insecticides and their effect on soil
• Indian standards for water quality
• Use of saline water in agriculture
• Different approaches to soil fertility evaluation
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 5: Plant Breeding and Genetics

• Indian history of Plant Breeding
• Major objectives and achievements of plant breeding in India
• Centre of diversity and its importance in crop improvement
• Nature of Pollination of crops, parthenocarpy in plants
• Germplasm conservation and its utilization
• Concept of gene and gene pool
• Hybridization and methods of handling segregating generations
• Mass selection, back cross method, recurrent selection
• Crop ideotype-concept and importance
• Male sterility and self-incompatibility
• Mutation and types of mutagens
• Quantitative and qualitative characters
• Components of genetic variation, correlation, and regression
• Cell division-mitosis and meiosis
• Mendel’s laws of inheritance and their exceptions, linkage and crossing over
• Polyploidy and its importance in crop breeding
• Totipotency in plant, meristem culture, anther culture
• Transgenic- achievements and future prospects
• Plant breeder’s rights and regulation for plant variety protection
• Basic principles of seed production, kinds of seed and Indian seed Act 1966
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 6: Entomology and Pest Management

• Economic importance of insects
• General morphology and anatomy of insects
• Classification of insects
• Apiculture, sericulture, and lac culture
• Important insect and non-insect pests of important field crops, vegetables, orchard and plantation crops and their management
• Storage pests and their management
• Integrated pest management
• Biological control of pests
• Plant quarantine measures
• Different categories of pesticides, their formulation, and modes of action
• Insect toxicology and concept of LD50/LC50
• MRL and waiting period
• Recent techniques of pest management
• Plant protection equipment’s and its application in pest management
• Insecticide act, 1968 & puts, 1971
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 7: Plant Pathology and Nematology

• Introduction, important plant pathogenic organisms
• Fungi, bacteria, fastidious vesicular bacteria, phytoplasmas, Spiroplasmas, viruses, viroids, algae, Protozoa, and phanerogamic parasites with examples of diseases caused by them
• Prokaryotes: classification of prokaryotes according to Bergey’s Manual of systematic Bacteriology
• General characters, reproduction, and classification of fungi
• Definition and objectives of Plant Pathology
• Survival and Dispersal of Plant Pathogens
• Plant disease epidemiology
• General principles of plant diseases management
• Integrated plant disease management (IDM)
• Economic importance, symptoms, cause, epidemiology and disease cycle and important diseases of important field crops, vegetables, Horticultural crops and their management
• General characteristics of plant pathogenic nematodes its morphology and biology
• Classification of nematodes up to family level with emphasis
• General symptoms caused by nematodes and their management
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 8: Agricultural Economics and Horticulture

• Public Finance-Meaning, Principle, Sources, Direct Tax, Indirect Tax
• Nationalized and Commercial Banking System
• Agricultural Credit, Agricultural Co-operative Structure and Function
• Agricultural Marketing - Definition, classification, marketable surplus & marketed surplus
• Marketing Channel, Price-Spread, Market Structure
• Agricultural Price Policy
• FCI, SWC, CWC, APMC, State Trading
• Production Economics - Classical Production Function
• Relationships between output & input
• Agri-Business Management
• Product Life Cycle, Marketing mix
• Capital Management, Balance Sheet, project loss statement, Project Life Cycle
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 9: Horticulture and Post-Harvest Technology

• Definition and importance of horticulture
• Classification of horticulture
• Area and production of different fruit, vegetables, and flower crops
• Planting systems, high-density planting
• Planning and establishment of new orchard
• Propagation methods and use of growth regulators in horticultural crops
• Package of practices of important fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops
• Maturity indices, harvesting, and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables
• Pre-harvest factors affecting quality on postharvest shelf life of fruits and vegetables
• Principles of preservation by heat, low temperature, chemicals, and fermentation
• Preparation of jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, ketchup, sauce
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 10: Agricultural Extension and Agribusiness

• Agricultural extension, its importance
• Extension teaching methods
• Etawah Pilot Project
• Community Development Programme
• Panchayati Raj System
• High-Yielding Variety Programme
• National Demonstration Programme
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra
• ATMA
• Institutional Village Linkage Programme (IVLP)
• IRDP, Demonstrations
• Leadership. Attitude. Knowledge, Skill
• Training, Communication skill
• Local leaders
• Adoption and Diffusion
• Innovations and their characteristics
• Kisan Call Centers
• Entrepreneurship in Agriculture
• SWOT analysis
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

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Syllabus for Bihar Agriculture Service Category-5 (Plant Protection) Paper-2:

–

Lecture 1: History of Entomology and Insect Anatomy

• History of Entomology in India
• Factors for insect abundance
• Metamorphosis and diapause in insects
• Types of larvae and pupae
• Structure and functions of various insect systems (digestive, circulatory, excretory, respiratory, nervous, secretory, and reproductive)
• Types of reproduction in insects
• Classification of class Insecta up to Orders
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 2: Insect Ecology and Pest Factors

• Insect Ecology: Introduction
• Environment and its components
• Effect of abiotic factors (temperature, moisture, humidity, rainfall, light, atmospheric pressure, and air currents)
• Effect of biotic factors (food competition, natural and environmental resistance)
• Concept of Balance of life in nature
• Biotic potential and environmental resistance
• Causes for outbreaks of pests in agro-ecosystems
• Pest surveillance and pest forecasting
• Categories of pests
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 3: Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

• Introduction, importance, concept, and principles of IPM
• Tools of IPM: Host plant resistance, Cultural, Mechanical, Physical, Legislative, Biological (parasites, predators, and transgenic plant pathogens), methods of control
• Chemical control: importance, hazards, and limitations
• Classification of insecticides, toxicity, and formulations of insecticides
• Study of important insecticides
• Botanical insecticides, synthetic pyrethroids, and more
• Nematicides, Rodenticides, Acaricides, and fumigants
• Recent methods of pest control
• Practices, scope, and limitations of IPM
• Insecticides Act 1968 - Important provisions
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 4: Beneficial Insects and Microorganisms

• Beneficial insects: parasites and predators used in pest control
• Mass multiplication techniques of beneficial insects
• Important groups of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) used in pest control
• Mass multiplication techniques of microorganisms
• Important species of pollinators, weed killers, and scavengers
• Their importance in agriculture
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 5: Importance of Plant Diseases and Terms in Plant Pathology

• Importance of plant diseases
• Causes of diseases
• Different groups of plant pathogens (fungi, bacteria, phytoplasmas, viruses, viroids, algae, protozoa, and phanerogamic parasites)
• Examples of diseases caused by various pathogens
• History of Plant Pathology
• Economic consequences of plant diseases (Bengal famine, Irish famine, etc.)
• Terms and concepts in Plant Pathology
• Endemic, sporadic, epidemic, and pandemic diseases
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 6: Plant Disease Phenomenon and Pathogenesis

• Phenomenon of infection: pre-penetration, penetration, and post-penetration
• Pathogenesis in plants
• Defense mechanisms in plants (structural and biochemical)
• Etiology, symptomatology, and epidemiology of economically important plant diseases
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 7: Survival and Dispersal of Plant Pathogens

• Survival and dispersal mechanisms of Plant Pathogens
• Diseases management principles: Avoidance, exclusion, protection
• Plant Quarantine and Inspection
• Quarantine Rules and Regulations
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 8: Cultural and Physical Methods of Disease Management

• Cultural methods: Rouging, eradication of alternate and collateral hosts, crop rotation, sanitation, etc.
• Physical methods: solar energy, hot water treatment
• Biological control and PGPR
• Chemical methods: classification of fungicides, Bordeaux mixture, systemic and contact fungicides, antibiotics, and their mode of action
• Methods of application of fungicides
• Host plant resistance
• Integrated plant disease management (IDM): Concept and advantages
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 9: Non-Insect Pests and Vermiculture

• Non-insect pests: mites, nematodes, rodents, and birds
• Distribution, biology, nature, and symptoms of damage
• Management strategies of pests of important crops
• Vermiculture: Introduction and significance
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

Lecture 10: Nematology and Plant Disease Management

• History of phytonematology
• Economic importance of plant-parasitic nematodes
• General characteristics of plant pathogenic nematodes
• Study of specific nematode diseases
• Different methods of nematode management
• Integrated plant disease management (IDM) for nematodes
• Download PDF Notes - Coming Soon

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