How to
go ahead with agriculture optional for IAS Mains prep?
Hey
aspirants,This
post is aimed to help you in forming your strategy for Agriculture optional for
Civil Services and Forest Services Exam, considering its various aspects.
#1. Who
should opt for Agriculture?
Anyone
who has academic background in Agriculture, Life Sciences, Botany, Biomedical
Sciences, Biotechnology, Zoology, Dairy and other related fields.Any aspirant
with no prior knowledge of Biology should not opt it. She may score good in
Paper I which is like general studies but Paper II becomes the eliminating
factor if it is not covered exhaustively.
#2. Why
should one not opt for ‘Botany’ instead?
If you
have Botany as your graduation or master’s subject then surely you should go
with botany, but just in case if you don’t have interest in remembering all families
characteristic features among others, then Agriculture is best optional for
you.
Secondly,
Paper II of Botany and Agriculture is quite similar if you see the syllabus but
if you analyse last year question papers, if you will see that questions in Agriculture
are easy in comparison to ‘Botany Paper II’.
#3. Can
I change my optional from Botany to Agriculture?
Yes,
surely you can switch if you are struggling with Botany. In fact, you will be
having an edge against Agriculture fresher aspirant as your Paper II of
Agriculture is already completed (almost) if you have covered Botany syllabus
exhaustively.
#4. Is
it scoring?
Of
course it is. If you have similar background as mentioned above, you must go
for it.There is a myth that Agriculture is more scoring than Botany. Please
don’t keep this in mind while preparing. Both are science subjects so if you
know your concepts you can score equally in both.
Both
subjects has equal percentage of topics that aspirant has to mug up
(literally). Think of families (Cryptogams, Phanerogams) in Botany, and
Horticulture and Pathology (Diseases and Measures) in Agriculture.
Agriculture
got popular among Botany/ life sciences students after CSE 2013 in which Botany
Paper was bit difficult and Agriculture was very easy. But in CSE 2015, both of
these optionals were on equal footing. So, please do not hold opinions of one
optional being easier than other, any optional demands right strategy and
interest to excel.
#5. How
much time it takes to prepare?
4-5
months, if you study Agriculture 12-15 hours per week. This should be enough.
Also, it depends on how much can you recall your graduation concepts.Plant
Breeding is the most conceptual, time taking and scoring part of the syllabus,
while horticulture and pathology needs your notes making and revising skill to
retain the topic.
Recommended
books for Agriculture:
Plant
Breeding Principles and Methods- B.D. Singh
Fundamentals
of Genetics- B.D. Singh
Plant
Physiology- V.K. Jain
Introductory
Soil Science- D.K. Das
Economics
of Farm Production and Management- Raju and Rao
Principles
of Agronomy-T.Y. Reddy and G.H.S. Reddi
Plant
pathology- P.D. Sharma
Introduction
to Horticulture- N Kumar
Let us
know if you find any problem in getting these books. Submit your comments
below.
These
books covers whole syllabus. Also, one need not to study each and every
chapter, instead cover topics syllabus wise. Syllabus is designed in a
chronological way which will help in building concepts if you go according to
it.No need to look out for other books. ICAR Handbook is not recommended at all
instead cover relevant chapters of Economic Survey and Year Book related to
Agriculture, it will help for both optional and GS.
Few
topics like Food Production and Consumption trends, Extension Schemes, Protein
Energy Malnutrition can be googled. Ecology part can be covered from any
standard book which you study for GS.
Also,
Quora helps in answering various general and specific questions related to the
subject. Many senior scientists and academicians of Agriculture are there. You
can follow Agriculture India topic there.
Problems
in Agriculture Sector in India
Farmers
and Climate Change
Few
websites helps in keeping abreast with current happenings and govt.
initiatives.
Dept. of
Agriculture website
Agriculturetoday
Hope
this may helps!
Credits --> Vimal IAS group
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