Syllabus for MSc & PhD (Ag) Entrance Exam Syllabus for M.Sc (Ag.) Entrance Exam for the year 2013-14 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: (Dept. of Agronomy, Ag. Chemistry & Soil Science, Soil & Water Conservation, Ag. Meteorology & Physics, Seed Science & Technology) Ag. Chemistry & Soil Science Concepts of soil fertility and productivity, plant nutrients-functions, toxicity, deficiency, diagnosis, critical limits, hidden hungers, Soil physical properties and nutrient management, Soil water and nutrient management, Fertility constraints in problem soils and their managements, organic matter and soil fertility, Soil reactions and nutrient management, Integrated plant nutrient management including micronutrients, Soil fertility evaluation methods, Principles of determination of NPKS and micro-nutrients, nutrient interactions and chelates in nutrient management. Soil physical indicators, soil colour by Munshell chart, soil respiration tests, soil infiltration tests, slake tests in rapid soil wetting condition, Analytical procedure of soil organic matter, available NPKS and micronutrients. Gypsum requirements of alkali and lime requirements of acid soils. Methods of soil, water and plant sampling and processing for analysis, Soil texture, principle of soil moisture, Measurement by gravimetric, tensiometric, gypsum block, neutron probe and pressure methods, Estimation of Oxygen Diffusion Rate (ODR) and Eh in submerged soils. Leaf tissue analysis, index tissue, principles and measurement of pH, Electrical conductivity, spectrophotometer, flame photometer and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Quality parameters of irrigation water, methods of available macro and micronutrients including heavy metals in soils and plant using different extractants. Ag. Meteorology & Physics Climatic classification, climatic regions of world. Characteristic features of climate of India and W.B. Salient features of earth surface wind system, General characteristics-modeling, cyclones & anticyclones, Tropical & extra tropical cyclones. Mesoscale wind-land & sea breeze, mountain & valley breeze and other local winds. Monsoon: characteristics of Indian Monsoon. Dew, fog, frost, cloud- Their importance in agriculture. Classification of fog and cloud. Forms of precipitation- Rain, snow, hail and sleet and their importance in agriculture. Rainfall- convective, orographic, cyclonic & monsoon rain (frontal). Artificial rain making.Basic concept of water balance and its significance in agriculture. Evapotranspiration as an agrometeorological process. ET pattern during cropping period, factors affecting ET. Concept of potential evapotranspiration, empirical estimation of PET- Methods of Penman & Thornthwaite. Evapotranspiration & irrigation scheduling. Concept of SMGDD & WRSI- their importance in agriculture. Introduction to crop weather models- empirical and mechanistic models and their applications. Utilization of meteorological information in crop management- preparation and interpretation of charts and maps. Analysis of rainfall data base. Estimation of Potential Evaportranspiration- Thornthwaite & penman method. Measurement of evaporation: Open pan evaporimeter- installation, data recording, care and maintenance. Use of Pan evaporation data base for irrigation scheduling. Climatological water balance- Thornthwaite & Mather, FAO method Drought analysis using different methods Concept of Crop Phenology & its significance in crop production. Agroclimatic factors affecting crop phenology. Weather based estimation of phonological stages. Concept of GDD, HTU, PTU, TIR & their applications in agriculture. Influence of surface features on microclimate. Profiles of radiation, temperature, vapour, wind and CO2 concentration within plant canopy and their significance in crop growth and production. Process of heat transfer in soils. Relationship between soil and air temperature. Influence of soil temperature in crop growth and production. Effect of weather parameters on crop production. Weather hazards important for agricultural activities- Flood, drought, cold wave, hail storm, thunder storm, frost, cyclone, their time and frequency of occurrence. Crops and their growth stages critical to different weather hazards. Crop protection measures against weather hazards- Wine break and shelter belts, protective irrigation, shading and mulching, artificial rain making and other management options. Concept of contingent crop planning in relation to weather hazard. Weather forecasting for agriculture. Types of forecasting- Short, medium and long range. Methods of weather forecasting- synoptic, statistical and numerical approaches Classical nomenclature applied in weather forecasting. Process of Identification of phonological stage important to weather conditions and crop management. Working principals of automatic weather station. Techniques employed for measurement of Canopy temperature, humidity and wind profile. Preparation of Agrometeorological Advisory Service bulletin. Verification of weather forecast with observed data to test accuracy by different methods. Watershed- definition, concept approach- aims and objectives. Watershed selection criteria and methods of identification of watershed. Steps, procedure and planning of watershed management. Rainwater management in watershed. Watershed hydrology, rainfall- runoff relationship. Runoff harvesting, storage, recycling and estimation of runoff. Rainwater harvesting- location and design of a pond. Case studies of some identified watershed and their management under different agro-climatic situation. Selection of different conservation treatment and production systems and their use in watershed management Study of watershed atlas in India. Rainfall and run-off relationship and their management, Delineation of watershed. Agronomy Introduction to water resources and watershed hydrology, Micro irrigation and problematic water: Definition, Significance, Principles and Objectives; Watershed characteristics. Principal factors of influencing watershed operation. Analysis of Water Samples for determining and analyzing Quality Parameters including pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen. Familiarity with micro-irrigation, drip, sprinklers and sub-surface; de-pollution of sewage and other problematic water for re-use in agriculture. Seed Science & Technology Concept and importance of quality seeds. Classes of seed and its production technology; Seed sampling; Seed testing; maintenance of seed purity and its deterioration; Seed certification & its utilization; Hybrid seed production technology. Seed sampling and quality testing (moisture, purity, viability, germination, vigour) of different crops; Quality seed production; Hybrid seed production. Soil & Water Conservation Introduction to water resources and watershed hydrology, Micro irrigation and problematic water: Definition, Significance, principles and Objectives; Watershed characteristics. Principal factors of influencing watershed operations. Analysis of Water Samples for determining quality parameters including pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen. Familiarity with micro-irrigation, drip, sprinklers and sub-surface; de-pollution of sewage and other problematic water for re-use in agriculture. CROP PROTECTION: (Dept. of Ag. Entomology, Plant Pathology, Ag. Chemicals) Ag. Entomology Pesticides- definition, categories. Insecticides-definition, classification based on toxicity, mode of entry, mode of action and chemical composition. Formulation of insecticides-types, uses, advantages; insecticide additives. Consideration for insecticide application; factors influencing insecticide efficiency. Types of insecticides- properties and uses of important insecticides under different groups viz. Organophosphate. Carbamates, chlorinated hydrocarbons and synthetic pyrethroids with advantages and limitations. New molecules in pest management. Insect growth regulators- types of acaricides, nematiocides and rodenticides; properties and uses of important ones under each group. Insecticide appliances- classification and uses. Studies on insecticides of diff. groups- their common names, trade names, colour symbols, signal and toxicity levels. Studies on diff. Insecticides formulation and consideration for their specific uses. Consideration for selection of insecticides against crop pests. Pesticide application equipment- type of sprayers, dusters, power sprayers and nozzles. Procedures and uses of diff. pesticides application equipments. Safety measure in handling of pesticides. Components of IPM Physical, mechanical, biological, chemical and legistative methods. Biotechnological approaches in IPM. Pest surveillance and sampling. Ecological backlash and its management, resistance of population to pest management tactics, pest population resurgence and replacement. Problems and constraints in the implementation of IPM. IPM on rice, sugarcane, groundnut, brinjal, cabbage, black gram, mungbean, jute, mango. Sampling techniques of different pests. Estimation of population of different pests and crop loss. Study of different types of traps and their method of use for insects counting. Assessment of Natural enemies, predator, parasites and others. Study of chemical pesticides. Calculation of dosages of different formulation of pesticides. Study of physical and mechanical methods of control. Study of biological control of insects. Preparation of poison baits Morphology of mites and ticks. preservation of mites. symptoms of damage caused by phytophagous mites. Identification characters of major mites pests, rodent pests, common spices of slugs and snails. Estimation of mite population by different methods. Identification of important rodent pests. Procedures for assessment of rodent population in field and godown. Damage caused by rodents and its control operaton in field and godown Balance of nature-natural control. Biological control- definition, its advantages and disadvantages. Biocontrol agents- insect, arachnids, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, vertebrates. Brief history of bio-control with examples of successful cases. Insects parasitoids and predators- types of parasitism. Methods of biological control-conservation, augmentation and importation. Predators and parasitoids of agricultural importance- Coleoptera (Coccinellids, Carabids, Staphylinids); Neuroptra (chrysopids); Hemiptra (Mirids, Reduviids, Pentatomids); Diptra (Syrphids, Tachinids); Lepidoptra (Pyralid- Epiricana melanolenca); Hymenoptra (Trichogranmatids, Eulophids, Scelionids, Mymarids, Braconids, Ichneumonids); Spiders (Arachina); Mites (Phytodeiids) and Weed feeding herbivores- Zygogramma bicolorala. Bio-pesticides- Entomopathogenic microbs, Bacteria- Bascillus thuringensis, B popillae; Fungi (Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Verticilium lecanii, Nomuraea rileyi); Viruses (NPV and GV); Nematodes (Heterohabidity idea, Steinernematidae and Protozoa). Methods of biological control- conservation, augmentation and importance. Mass production of bio control agents Facilities required in general for mass production of natural enemies. Procedures of Mass rearing of host insects of natural enemies on nature or artificial diets a) Corcyra cephalonica, b) Spodoptera litura, c) Plutella xylostella, d) Helicovrpa armigera, e) mealy bugs, f) Galleria mellonella. Procedures of Mass production of parasitoids and predators a) Trichogramma chilouis/T.japonicum, b) Bracon brevicornis, c) Cotesia plutellae, d) Chrysoperla carnea, e) Cryptoaemus montrouzieri, f) Scymnus coccivora. Technique of Mass production of weed feeding herbuivore- Zygogranma bicolorata. Quality control of natural enemies. Plant Pathology Biofungicides of microbial origin: introduction and importance. Identity of Trichoderma harzianum and Gliocladium virens. Curriculum vitae of T.harzianum and G.virens. Isolation and maintenance of mother culture. Mass production practices and development of delivery systems. Application technology. Economics & future prospects. Technique of Isolation of bio control agents in culture media. Procedure of Inoculation and growing of T. harzianum and Gliocladiun (Trichoderma) virens in synthetic, semi synthetic and natural substrate. Preparation and standardization of spore suspension. Preservation techniques of mother culture. Mass culture of biocontrol agent. Formulation and packaging. Plant Disease management: Management of Host, Pathogen and Environment. Principles of plant disease management: Exclusion, Avoidance, Eradication, Protection, Host resistance and Therapy. Procedures of Plant Disease Management. Different methods of cultural, Biological and Chemical control. Integrated Disease management Practices. Strategies for crop health management, Tolerable losses, Economic control, long range control, multiple disease control. IDM on Rice, Potato, Groundnut, Jute, Mustard, Wheat, Vegetable crops, Green Gram & Black Gram, Jute, Major Fruit trees. Sampling techniques of different diseases. Technique of Estimation of disease intensity, incidence and crop loss due to different diseases. Study of chemical fungicides and calculation of doses of different formulations. Ag. Chemicals Classification, brief Chemistry and synthesis of some popular pesticides: Insecticides (Organo-Chlorines, Organo-Phosphates, Carbamates, Synthetic Pyrethroids), Fungicides and Herbicides; Brief Chemistry, Synthesis and use of some Acaricide, Nematicide, Rodenticide and Molluscicide; Introduction to pesticide residues; Principles of pesticide residue analysis Identification of agro-chemicals using TLC: Preparation of TLC plate, spotting and development, visualization and calculation of Rf; Qualitative and Quantitative estimation of Cu, S, Zn and Mn present in agro-chemicals; Methods for pesticide residue analysis: basic Steps involved, familiarization of apparatus & equipments; Extraction of soil, plant & water; Concentration of extract; Preparation of glass column for chromatographic clean-up; Clean-up by liquid partitioning; Method of estimation of pesticide residues using Spectrophotometer, GLC, HPLC Brief Chemistry of pesticides of plant origin and their application in plant protection: Pyrethroids, Nicotinoides, Rotenoids, Azadirachtin; Chemistry of Plant Pigments, Terpenoides, Flavonoids and Alkaloids; Princple of extraction and purification of bio-active constituents from plant Procedures of qualitative test for bio-active (pesticidal) constituents in plant extract by LB test, Mayer’s test, Dragendroffs’s test, Shinoda test, etc.; Extraction of chrysanthemum for pyrethroid; Extraction of neem seed carnel for Azadirachtin; Quantitative estimation of Azadirachtin content in seem seed carnel extract & commercial neem formulation; Quantitative estimation of pyrethroid content in commercial synthetic pyrethroid formulations. PLANT SCIENCE ( CROP IMPROVEMENT): (Dept. of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Ag. Bio-chemistry, Plant Physiology, Agril. Biotechnology) Ag. Bio-chemistry Photosynthesis- introduction, photosynthetic pigments, light and dark reactions, photorespiration, C3 & C4 plants, DNA replication, transcription and translation Procedure of estimation of starch; extraction and estimation of phenolics from plant materials; colorimetric and titrimetric estimation procedure of vitamin C in fruits and vegetables; extraction and estimation of chlorophyll, carotenoids, lycopene, curcumin etc. from plant materials, Determination of Michaelis-Menten constant. Estimation of enzyme activity of some enzymes Plant Physiology Growth analysis formulae, LAI, Specific leaf weight, Crop Growth Rate, RGR, NAR, Harvest index Morphological and Physiological yield components, brief account of Physiological changes associated with growth, development and maturation in general General features of drought stress, Drought tolerance and resistance types. Metabolic process related to tolerance, Salt tolerance- General features and mechanism of salt tolerance. Water logging- Growth metabolic processes and tolerance to water logging (In all cases the basic aspects only) Brief account of macro and micro nutrients on crop productivity. Principles of measuring LAI, HI, SLW, NAR and CGR, Monitoring principles of stress on seedling growth. Role of Blue and red light on seed germination and seedling growth. Estimation principles of proline, chlorophyll. Isolation and analysis of isozyme: principles and monitoring. Principles of hydroponic culture and T2 test for seed viability Genetics & Plant Breeding Principles of plant cell, tissue and organ culture; Shoot-tip, axillary bud, embryo and nucellus culture; Embryogenesis and organogenesis; Micro-propagation and somaclonal variation; hardening of tissue culture generated plants; Concept of germplasm and its in-vitro conservation; Secondary metabolites production. Pre-and post fertilization barriers in plants and overcoming the barriers. Techniques used of gene transfer in plants. Ti plasmid in Agrobacterium as a vector for plant transformation; Protoplast culture and its use in gene transfer study; Principles of identifying quality and quantity of integration and expression of foreign genes; Optimization of gene expression in transgenic plants, Co-suppression; Antisense and related RNA technology DNA and Protein extraction buffers. Electrophoresis buffer and gel (agarose and PAGE) running principles.DNA from plant leaves: principles for estimation of quantity and quality of extracted DNA. Seed storage proteins: principles for estimation of quantity and quality of extracted protein. Electrophoresis: PAGE and agarose gel. Principles of restriction endonuclease and digestion of genomic DNA by RE. Principles of PCR reaction and thermo cycler machine. Dominant and co-dominant marker: based on electrophoresis. Basis of allelic and binary data scoring from gel picture. Plant genome organization and molecular analysis of genes and chromosomes; Concept of marker and marker genes; Amplification of DNA by PCR; Molecular markers- RFLP, AFLP, RAPD, SSR; DNA fingerprinting, DNA probes, mapping QTLs, marker assisted selection for crop quality and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses The working principles of laminar flow, tissue culture lab, centrifuge machine, electrophoresis apparatus with power pack etc. Composition of plant tissue culture media and their source. Media preparation and its storage principles. Basis explants selection and their in-vitro inoculation. Identification of embryonic calli through cytochemical and histo-morphological study. Principles of checking clonal fidelity of micro propagules. Agrobacterium and its transformation with suitable vector. Co-cultivation of explants with Agrobacterium. Principles of copy number determination from transformed plant. Special approaches for crop improvement in self-pollinated crops, Population breeding approaches, Selective mating scheme, experimental findings, merits and limitations, Rapid isolation of homozygous lines- Anether culture, Development of multi-line varieties, Development of hybrid varieties of self and cross pollinated crops: Development and maintenance of different male sterile lines, incompatible lines and procedure for hybrid seed production of rice and cotton, Development and maintenance of inbreed lines and procedure for hybrid seed production in maize, Improvement of medicinal and aromatic crops for their quality, Physiological concepts in plant breeding-physiological parameters to crop yield and their application in plant improvement programme with reference to cereals, pulse, oilseeds and fibre crops, Breeding for improvement of tree crops, Importance and steps for development of transgenic plants, Introduction to IPR & Policy, PPV & FRA, Preparation of passport Data and registration of plant varieties. Principles of designing field lay out. Principles for identification of varietal purity and natural variants from field visit. Floral biology: rice, greengram, mustard, wheat, jute etc. Yield attributing parameters and harvest index of rice, greengram/black gram, mustard, jute etc. Procedure for emasculation and pollination of major cereals, pulse and oilseeds. Three lines and two lines hybrid system. Principles of DUS testing of rice, jute, wheat, pulse crops etc. SOCIAL SCIENCES: (Dept. of Ag. Extension, Ag. Economics & Ag. Statistics) Ag. Extension Changing Scenario of Agriculture and human resource management; theory of personality and socialization, behaviour and entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial motivation and skills in changing organization; personality profiling; experiential learning cycle and behaviour, ELC based training programme and methodology. Communication and behavioural skill. Simulation theory and processing Micro lab and personality analysis, business games on target setting, achievement fixin, risk analysis, creation of training modules on behavioural skills of SHGS, creating skills for stress management and personality counseling, conflict resolution and team building, GD/brain storming/role play Cyber extension approaches, techniques, methodologies. Application and operation of Video conference system through interactive mode. Electronic documentation through photography, editing of both visual and sound, colour printing and designing. Creation of commercially viable audio and visual CDs for training, commercial power point presentation. Low cost CDs on Vernacular/local languages, sale and use by the FO, Enterprising farmers, SHG etc. Ag. Economics Definition of Marketing-concepts of marketing – consumer behaviour-marketing strategy-pricing. Advertising management-sales promotion-sales management-marketing information system. Rural marketing in India-profile and difficulties. Agricultural Marketing Management- planning-policies-marketing information system- marketing development and promotional activities-price decision- function of marketing- cost profit analysis- quality of product. Agricultural marketing-functions-marketing system-functional approach, commodity approach, institutional approach, behavioral approach and Decision making approach. Co-operative marketing-function-Structure, Regulated markets-objectives & important features Agriculture Price Policy-International Trade in Agricultural Commodities-Modern theory of International trade Village market, Wholesale market, Retail market their problems, constraints and infrastructures etc., Identification of problems, constraints and infrastructures etc. of the different Waterhousing/Godowns/ Cold storage. Evaluation of the marketing channel of different agricultural and horticultural crops., Identification of problems, constraints and infrastructures etc. of the different co-operative markets and regulated markets. Meaning, importance and scope of Agril-Business management and Rural Industrialization. Basic principles and modern tools of agri-business management. Agril-Industries & economic development-Food self-sufficiency-reduced food losses-improved nutrition-employment generation-Development of Skill & Technology-foreign exchange-import substitution-increased public sector revenues. Economic characteristics attributed to agro-industry-addition of value to domestic raw materials-industrial linkages-Economics of scale-technology Brief introduction to Globalization and challenges for global enterprises-global rural industries. Opportunities and strategies for Indian agri-business/ understanding business response to economic changes/understanding business strategy in the Indian context/State context. Ingredients of the success formulae/causes of low performance & failure in Indian rural business/Opportunities & strategies for Indian agri-business. Identifying the various kinds of agro-based principal products-Estimating demand for agro-based products at different-micro level across different stake holders-Identifying and classifying the agro-based products or which the specified areas have advantages. Strategic planning for developing agro-based enterprises on a surveyed area-listing advantages-disadvantages-Identifying the areas where intervention is needed-intervention in terms of raw materials- skills-capital-infrastructure-Institutional support etc. Methodology for agro-industrial investment-analysis-sub-system of agro-industrial activities-marketing, processing and raw material supply-analyzing a post-harvest system-market oriented analysis. Present govt. policies, programmes and current govt. support for sting up agro-based industries. Visit to concerned Government organizations to know the know-how of imorts and exports of agro-based products. Analyzing procedure of balance sheet/budget/financial statements of some important agro-based enterprises Farm Planning (FP)-Purpose-Types of FP-Essential Elements of FP-Stages of FP-principal characteristics of good farm plan- basic of FP and budgeting. Farm budgeting (FB)-objectives of FB-types of FB-practical and complete budgeting-elements of partial budgeting-difference between partial and complete budgeting-advantage of FB. Locating weak points in Existing Farm Plan-Alternate Farm Plan-practicability of alternate plan. Farm environmental pollution-estimation-cost benefits-farm project evaluation-paln, programme and appraisal-the present worth summing method-amortization method. Linear Programming (LP)- a budgeting technique-definition-requisites of LP-assumptions of LP-Elements of LP-disposal activities-solution of LP: Feasible and optimal feasible solution, geometric method, simplex method, problem of cost minimization the dual problem, solution to the dual problem. Mapping of resources and outputs-classification of farms-comparison between small, marginal and large farms in terms of farm efficiency. Computation of farm diversification using different methods. Visit to orchards-dairy farms-fish farms-estimating cost returns of orchards, dairy farms, fish farms etc. Analyze of alternate plan to check the profitability through the use a partial. Budget technique, working out the present worth of future returns, work out the optimal feasible solution using LP Technique (simplex method) Ag. Statistics Concept of production function, demand and supply curves, engel curve, input-output analysis, static and dynamic models of economics, single and simultaneous quuation models, identification, method of estimation of parameters: Maximum likelihood and least squares, multi-collinearity, autocorrelation, time series analysis and index number Regression analysis in production function analysis, identification and input-output analysis in farm sectors, their identification of problems and application of regression and other techniques in forecasting. Sampling versus complete enumeration, sampling errors and non-sampling errors, simple random sampling; with replacement and without replacement, estimation of population mean and population proportion and their standard errors and stratified random sampling. Framing questionnaire for market research and opinion surveys. Estimation of important parameters used in agriculture along with standard errors *For Entrance in the Dept. of Agronomy in M.Sc (Ag), the syllabus will be total UG courses of Agronomy. *For Entrance in the Dept. of Agronomy & Plant Science (Crop Improvement) subjects, the exam will be held separately on the same date (20.07.2013). The time & date of exam for M.Sc entrance will be as follows. Date: 20.07.2013 Venue: Faculty of Agriculture, BCKV, Mohanpur Time Subjects 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Natural Resource Management Crop Protection Social Science 01:00 pm to 02:30 pm Agronomy 03:00 pm to 04:30 pm Plant Science (Crop Improvement) For Ph.D Entrance Examination, the question papers will be set on the basis of the course content of SRF (minus General Agriculture) of ICAR examination for all the Departments. The date, time & venue of this entrance examination will be as follows: Date: 27.07.2013 Venue: Faculty of Agriculture, BCKV, Mohanpur Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 02:46:42 +0000
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