The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) welcomes applications for the ASRB NET, commonly known as the ICAR NET, every year (Indian Council of Agriculture Research NET). ASRB is one of the esteemed boards in India. It is responsible for recruiting entry-level scientific positions of the Agriculture Research Service through a national-level competitive exam. ASRB is also responsible for recruitment related to posts in collective cadres of Finance and Accounts/Administrative Officers of the ICAR, which are required to be done by direct recruitment.
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The revamped Board was conferred with power to have its Cadre of related administrative staff in the secretariat while having self-regulating administrative control on this Cadre. Moreover, the provision related to separate budget heads meant for ASRB was also created in DARE.
ASRB Syllabus: An Overview
ASRB syllabus, along with exam pattern details, is made available by releasing an official notification before the exam by the ASRB board. The vast disciplines have been integrated into the ASRB syllabus. Here take a glance at the disciplines from Code 51 to Code 56 prescribed in the syllabus:-
Code 51: Farm Machinery & Power
The discipline named Farm Machinery and Power comprises the fundamentals of farm machinery designs, their important elements and status related to power availability on farms. Relevant examples in the form of the prevalent problems along with their solutions have been included in this discipline to impart students’ clarity regarding varied concepts.
Units of this discipline comprise topics related to designs of basic farm machinery like harvesters, threshers, hydraulic controls, pneumatic and more, farm machinery management and estimation of power requirements. Topics related to farm machinery testing, ergonomics and safety, soil dynamics, energy in agriculture, manufacturing technology, instrumentation, measurement techniques have been included under this specific discipline.
Code: 52 Computer Applications & IT
The main motive behind integrating Computer Applications and IT in the ASRB syllabus is to impart relevant computer knowledge to make agriculture more resourceful and easy. A wide range of computer-related topics has been integrated into this discipline.
They comprise computer organization and architecture, programming languages and data structure, software engineering, networking and operating system, compiler construction, computer graphics, bioinformatics. Also, this specific discipline includes the latest topics like artificial intelligence and soft computing, statistics, modeling and simulation to make agriculture more future-proof.
Code 5 3: Land & Water Management Engineering
Soil and water are essential resources of agriculture production. Therefore, the main motive of this discipline is to impart familiarity about these two crucial aspects to optimize the agriculture output. The Land & Water Management Engineering discipline of the ASRB syllabus comprises a variety of crucial relevant topics.
They comprise knowledge related to water resources in India and irrigation potential, models of groundwater development, irrigation water delivery and distribution. Other important topics comprise open channel hydraulics, cropping patterns, soil and water conversation, soil classifications, drought tolerance, hydrology cycle, watershed management, problem soils, environment consideration in land.
Code 54: Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics leverages computer programs to expand the prevalent understanding related to varied plant functions. The aim is to further enhance the plant quality for human consumption while protecting plants against detrimental stressors.
Important topics of this discipline include fundamentals of computing cloud computing, varied programming languages, mathematics and statistics, and beyond. Scope and importance of biochemistry in agriculture, whole-genome analysis, concepts of molecular modeling, algorithms and data structures in bioinformatics are also integrated into this discipline.
Code 55: Food Technology
Food technology plays a pivotal role in increasing the quality of seeds and crops to provide quality-driven foods for preventative health by meeting specific standards. The crucial topics of this discipline encompass introduction to food technology, food processing, post-harvest handling and storage, cleaning, grading, packaging, and beyond.
The technology of milk and milk products, the technology of meat, fish, and other poultry products too are included. Other crucial food technologies comprise fermentation technology, flavor composition technology, diet therapy, organic foods, flavor chemistry technology, and more.
Code 56: Agricultural Structure and Process Engineering
To maximize the agricultural output, it is extremely important to understand the varied aspects related to the farm structure and processing technology. Right from farmstead planning to the economics of greenhouse production, from the storage environment to post-harvest operations, without the knowledge related to these topics, it is not possible to provide quality food to the final consumers.
Main topics covered under this discipline of ASRB syllabus encompass engineering properties and quality of biometrics, food quality specifications, bulk conveying equipment, storage engineering, basic laws of thermodynamics. For robust agri-project planning and management, varied relevant important topics have been integrated into this discipline. They include aquaculture processing, dairy engineering, dairy engineering, dairy plant maintenance, water treatment plants, and more.
Conclusion
The ARS exam conducted by the ASRB board comprises three stages: preliminary, mains, and interview. The different stages of exams are conducted in diversified centers that too on different dates. It is important for aspiring candidates to download this notification for a clear understanding of the ASRB syllabus and exam pattern to effectively plan their exam strategy.
