SYLLABUS FOR THE ALL INDIA COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR

ADMISSION TO DOCTORAL DEGREE PROGRAMMES AND THE AWARD OF

JRF/SRF (PGS):

SYLLABUS FOR ICAR AICE PHD JRF/SRF (PGS) EXAM FOR
64 AGRONOMY

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Unit 1: Crop Ecology and Geography

• Principles of crop ecology
• Ecosystem-concept and determinants of crop productivity
• Physiological limits of crop yield and variability in relation to ecological optima
• Crop adaptation
• Climate shift and its ecological implication
• Greenhouse effect
• Agro-ecological and agro-climatic regions of India
• Geographical distribution of cereals, legumes, oilseeds, vegetables, fodders and forages, commercial crops, condiments and spices, medicinal and aromatic plants
• Adverse climatic factors and crop productivity
• Photosynthesis, respiration, net assimilation, solar energy conversion efficiency, and relative water content
• Light intensity, water, and CO2 in relation to photosynthetic rates and efficiency
• Physiological stress in crops, detection and indices
• Remote sensing: Spectral indices and their application in agriculture

Unit 2: Weed Management

• Scope and principles of weed management
• Weed classification, biology, ecology, and allelopathy
• Weed seed dormancy
• Crop weed competition and weed threshold
• Herbicides classification, formulations, mode of action, selectivity, and resistance
• Persistence of herbicides in soils and plants
• Application methods and equipment
• Cultural, physical, chemical, and biological weed control
• Bio-herbicides
• Integrated weed management
• Special weeds, parasitic, and aquatic weeds and their management
• Weed control schedules in field crops, vegetables, and plantation crops
• Role of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in weed management

Unit 3: Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use

• History of soil fertility and fertilizer use
• Concept of essentiality of plant nutrients
• Critical concentrations in plants, nutrient interactions, diagnostic techniques
• Soil fertility and productivity indicators
• Fertilizer materials including liquid fertilizers
• Composition, mineralization, availability, and reaction in soils
• Water solubility of phosphate fertilizers
• Slow-release fertilizers, nitrification inhibitors
• Principles and methods of fertilizer application including fertigation
• Integrated nutrient management and bio-fertilizers
• Agronomic and physiological efficiency and recovery of applied plant nutrients
• Criteria for determining fertilizer schedules for cropping systems
• Fertilizer-related environmental problems including groundwater pollution
• Site-specific nutrient management

Unit 4: Dryland Agronomy

• Concept of dryland farming
• Dryland farming vs. rainfed farming
• History, development, significance, and constraints of dryland agriculture in India
• Climatic classification and delineation of dryland tracts
• Characterization of agro-climatic environments of drylands
• Rainfall analysis and length of growing season
• Types of drought and their effects on plant growth
• Drought resistance, avoidance, and management
• Crop planning including contingency, crop diversification, varieties, cropping systems, and mid-season corrections
• Moisture conservation techniques
• Rainwater harvesting and recycling
• Summer ploughing, seed hardening, pre-monsoon sowing, weed and nutrient management
• Importance of watershed management in dryland areas

Unit 5: Crop Production

• Crop production techniques for cereals, millets, pulses/grain legumes, oilseeds, fiber crops, sugarcane, tobacco, fodder and pasture crops
• Origin, history, distribution, adaptation, climate, soil, season, modern varieties, seed rate, fertilizer requirements, crop geometry, intercultural operations, water requirement, weed control, harvest, quality components, industrial use, economics, and post-harvest technology
• Package of practices in the respective locations

Unit 6: Agricultural Statistics

• Frequency distribution, standard error and deviation, correlation and regression analyses
• Coefficient of variation
• Tests of significance: t-test, F-test, and chi-square (χ2)
• Data transformation and missing plot techniques
• Design of experiments and their basic principles
• Completely randomized, randomized block, split-plot, strip-plot, factorial, and simple confounding designs
• Efficiency of designs
• Methods of statistical analysis for cropping systems including intercropping
• Pooled analysis

Unit 7: Sustainable Land Use Systems

• Tillage - Concept, types, tilth, tools, and implements
• Modern concepts of tillage and conservation agriculture
• Land capability classification
• Alternate land use and agroforestry systems
• Types, extent, and causes of wasteland
• Shifting cultivation
• Concept of sustainability
• Sustainability parameters and indicators
• Agricultural and agro-industrial residues and their recycling

Unit 8: Soil-Plant-Water Relationship

• Importance of water in agriculture
• Hydrological cycle, runoff, and infiltration
• Factors affecting infiltration
• Soil water relations, water retention by soil, soil moisture characteristics
• Field capacity, permanent wilting point, plant available water, and extractable water
• Soil irrigability classifications
• Determination of soil water content
• Computation of soil water depletion, soil water potential, and its components
• Movement of soil water
• Saturated and unsaturated water flow
• Evapotranspiration (ET), PET, AET and its measurements
• Crop coefficient
• Plant water relations
• Methods of moisture estimation in plants
• Soil and water conservation measures: agronomical, mechanical, and agrostological

Unit 9: Irrigation Water Management

• History of irrigation in India
• Major irrigation projects in India
• Water resource development
• Crop water requirements
• Concepts of irrigation scheduling
• Different approaches of irrigation scheduling
• Concept of critical stages of crop growth in relation to water supplies
• Methods of irrigation: surface, subsurface, and pressurized irrigation methods
• Merits and demerits
• Measurement of irrigation water
• Application and distribution efficiencies
• Conjunctive use of water
• Interaction between irrigation and fertilizers

Unit 10: Management of Problematic Soils and Crop Production

• Problem soils and their distribution in India
• Acidic, saline, waterlogged, and mined soils
• Response of crops to acidity, salinity, excess water, and nutrient imbalances
• Reclamation of problem soils
• Role of amendments and drainage
• Crop production techniques in problem soils
• Degraded lands and their rehabilitation
• Management strategies for flood-prone areas
• Drainage for improving waterlogged soils for crop production
• Crop production and alternate use of problematic soils and poor-quality water for agriculture

Unit 11: Cropping and Farming Systems and Organic Farming

• Cropping system definition, principles, classification
• Cropping system for different ecosystems
• Interaction and indices
• Non-monetary inputs and low-cost technologies
• LEIA, HEIA, and LEISA
• Farming systems types: natural, bio-dynamic, bio-intensive, response, precision, biological, and organic farming
• Organic and bio inputs
• Soil health, organic matter, and Integrated organic farming systems
• IFS concepts, models for different ecosystems, resource recycling, and evaluation

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