Two syllabus halves — your agriculture core (already familiar from your degree) and general studies (the part most agri students under-prepare). Below: the full topic list, a weekly routine, and milestones to check yourself against.
Your degree is the syllabus for AFO, NABARD, ADO and UPSSSC technical papers. Your job is to convert coursework into crisp, exam-ready recall.
Reasoning, quantitative aptitude, English/Hindi, general awareness & current affairs. This decides bank & SSC cut-offs and is where you must build from scratch.
The "Professional Knowledge" paper in AFO and the ARD section in NABARD draw from exactly these areas. Aim for one revision sheet per subject.
Cropping systems, tillage, cropping seasons (Kharif/Rabi/Zaid), irrigation & water management, weed management, major field crops & their package of practices.
Soil formation, physical/chemical properties, pH & salinity, NPK & micronutrients, fertilizers, manures, soil testing, problem soils.
Fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices & plantation crops; propagation, orchard management, post-harvest & protected cultivation.
Mendelian genetics, selection methods, hybridization, heterosis, mutation & biotechnology basics, seed technology.
Insect morphology, major crop pests, life cycles, integrated pest management (IPM), pesticides & safe use.
Fungal/bacterial/viral diseases, symptoms, disease cycles, management, integrated disease management.
Farm machinery, irrigation methods (drip/sprinkler), soil & water conservation, watershed basics.
Farm management, agri finance & cooperation, marketing, MSP, WTO & agri policy, agri statistics basics.
Extension methods, transfer of technology, rural development & government schemes, ATMA, KVK.
Basics of dairy, poultry & livestock, breeds, nutrition & common practices (lighter weight in most papers).
Agro-climatic zones, climate change & agriculture, organic farming, natural resource management.
New schemes, budget allocations, MSP updates, agri-tech, latest crop & policy news — track monthly.
Shared across AFO, RRB, PO, SSC and state exams — every hour here pays off many times.
Number system, simplification, percentages, ratio & proportion, average, profit & loss, SI/CI, time-speed-distance, time & work, mensuration, data interpretation, number series, quadratic equations.
Puzzles & seating arrangement, syllogism, blood relations, coding-decoding, direction sense, inequality, order & ranking, series, input-output, statement & conclusion.
Reading comprehension, cloze test, error spotting, para-jumbles, fillers, vocabulary; Hindi grammar & comprehension for state / RRB local-language sections.
Banking & financial awareness, Indian economy, static GK (polity, history, geography), science basics, sports, awards, and daily current affairs.
Fundamentals, MS Office, internet & networking basics, abbreviations — light but scoring in bank mains.
Last 6–8 months before each exam: national, international, economy, agriculture, appointments, schemes. Build the daily one-page habit now.
Built around a college schedule. Adjust the clock to your day, but keep the structure: aptitude early, subjects in blocks, a weekly full test.
Whatever else slips, protect these three daily: 45 min of quant, one agriculture topic, and your current-affairs page. Consistency beats intensity — a steady 3 hrs/day for two years crushes occasional 10-hour bursts.