OPSC OAS Agriculture Syllabus – Paper-I (Optional Subject)

Exam: Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) – OAS / OCS
Paper: Optional Subject – Agriculture (Paper-I)
Sections: Section-A & Section-B

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Section-A: Agronomy, Soil Science & Water Management

• Cropping pattern in different agro-climatic zones of the country
• Crop diversification; 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 of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, fibres, sugar, tuber and fodder crops grown during Kharif and Rabi seasons
• Organic farming – principles and practices
• Water-use efficiency in relation to crop production, criteria for scheduling irrigation
• 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
• Weeds, their characteristics, dissemination and association with various crops; cultural, biological and chemical control of weeds
• Important features, scope and propagation of forestry plantations (extension, social forestry, agro-forestry, natural forests)
• 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
• Integrated nutrient management; Losses of nitrogen in soil, nitrogen-use efficiency in submerged rice soils, nitrogen fixation
• Fixation of phosphorus and potassium in soils and the scope for their efficient use; Problem soils and their management
• Soil conservation planning on watershed basis; Erosion and run-off management in hilly, foot hills, and valley lands
• Dryland agriculture and its problems; Technology for stabilising agricultural production in rainfed areas

Section-B: Ecology, Farm Management & Extension

• Ecology and its relevance to man; Biodiversity 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
• Farm management, scope, importance and characteristics, farm planning and budgeting
• Economics of different types of farming systems and factors affecting it
• Marketing and pricing of agricultural inputs and outputs, price fluctuation and their cost; role of co-operatives in agricultural economy
• Agriculture export zone; World Trade Organisation, General Agreement on Trade and Tariff, Intellectual Property Rights in relation to agriculture
• 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 production and rural employment
• Training programmes for extension workers; Institution village linkage programme