Strategy & Books to Prepare for the UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional


Agriculture is one of the easiest subjects for UPSC CSE optional due to its precise syllabus. In spite of this, a lot of aspirants do not opt for this subject. The main reason behind it is the lack of background knowledge needed for the same. So, if you are someone who does not have the right basic knowledge then you should opt for some other optional subject.  

But how to prepare for it if you are aiming to clear your UPSC CSE with this optional subject with you? Don’t worry read through the end to know some amazing strategies that will be helpful to you.  

  1. Read the syllabus thoroughly. A lot of aspirants commit the mistake of not understanding the syllabus of the optional subject they are choosing. But it is very important for you to be thorough with the syllabus and exam pattern that is followed in order to prepare well and efficiently.
  2.  Analyze your weakness and strengths. It is very crucial to know your own weakness and strengths in order to prepare an efficient study plan for yourself that you can stick to for scoring well in the exam.
  3. Start early with the preparation. Even though the syllabus for this optional is very small as compared to others it still requires the aspirants to start preparing in time. As one can find numerous sources for this subject to refer from it becomes haphazard while revising. Thus start early with the readings and understanding which sources you would want to refer to for the entire paper. With this, you not only restrict your sources but also choose the ones that are easy for you to comprehend and study from.
  4. Keep yourself updated all the time. As the nature of this optional is very dynamic and new technologies come up changing the agricultural sector. Thus dedicate at least half an hour daily in your study plan to read the current affairs, recent policies, and newspaper to equip yourself with the happening around in the sector.
  5. Religiously practice question papers. Practicing with the question papers not only helps you to keep a track of your progress but also updates you on the repeated questions and topics that come every year or once in a few years. By this, you can plan your revision accordingly and dedicate more time to the topics that occur repeatedly in the papers.
Read and prepare notes for case studies. As mentioned earlier the subject is a dynamic one thus your answers need to be in line with the recent scenarios in the sector. Thus, to help you with the answers you can maintain a separate notebook for all the case studies you come across and can use them in your answers accordingly.

Recommended books that would help you with the preparations:
  • Fundamentals Of Agricultural Extension Education by U Barman
  • A Text-Book of Agricultural Statistics R. Rangaswamy
  • Agronomy – Yellamanda Reddy
  • Entomology – Vasantha Raj & David
  • Genetics- B.D.Singh
  • Handbook Of Agriculture -ICAR
  • Introduction To Horticulture – Kumar
  • Physiology – Pandey & Singha
  • Plant Breeding -B.D. Singh
  • Soil Science – D.K Das Or Brady
  • Special Issue of Agriculture by The Hindu
  • The Hindu- Survey Of Indian Agriculture
That’s all about Strategy and Books for UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional. Hope this reading will worth you.

Thank you

Happy Reading.

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