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Agriculture Optional for UPSC 2025: The Agriculture optional syllabus for UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025 continues to be a strategic choice, particularly for aspirants with a background or interest in agriculture, life sciences, botany, or rural development. Agriculture, as a discipline, revolves around the science of cultivating crops, managing soil health, rearing livestock, and implementing techniques to maximise productivity while ensuring sustainability.
Choosing Agriculture as an optional subject in UPSC 2025 can offer significant advantages. It provides aspirants with an opportunity to understand the foundational structure of India’s economy, food security, climate change impact on agriculture, and rural development policies. This subject not only overlaps with General Studies Papers I and III but also strengthens answers in the Essay Paper and Personality Test through practical and policy-based insights.
This detailed guide for UPSC Agriculture Optional 2025 outlines the syllabus, past year question papers (PYQs), topper strategies, and must-read books to help aspirants prepare efficiently.
The Agriculture Optional Paper is divided into two papers—Paper I and Paper II, each carrying 250 marks, thus constituting a total of 500 marks in the Mains examination. The syllabus encompasses topics such as agronomy, soil science, irrigation management, plant breeding, horticulture, animal husbandry, environmental issues, and agricultural economics.
Notably, the syllabus interlinks with General Studies, especially:
GS Paper I: Indian geography, demographics, and poverty-related issues
GS Paper III: Agricultural reforms, Indian economy, environment and climate change
Essay Paper: Rural and agricultural development topics
Each of the agriculture optional papers for the UPSC CSE exam 2025 carries 250 marks, making it a total of 500 marks for both exams. The syllabus for the Agriculture Optional 2025 paper in the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) in India typically covers various aspects of agriculture. Below is a broad outline of the syllabus:
The Table below contains the syllabus of the Agriculture Optional for the UPSC Optional Paper I:
S. No. | Topic | Subtopics |
1 | Ecology |
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2 | Agronomy |
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3 | Weed Science |
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4 | Forestry |
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5 | Soil science and nutrient management |
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6 | Soil and water conservation |
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7 | Agricultural economics |
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8 | Agricultural extension |
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The Table below contains the syllabus of the Agriculture Optional for the UPSC Optional Paper II:
S. No. | Topic | Subtopics |
1 | Cell Biology |
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2 | Plant breeding |
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3 | Seed production and technology |
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4 | Plant physiology |
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5 | Horticulture, and landscape gardening |
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6 | Plant protection techniques |
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7 | Food production, and nutrition management |
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The Agriculture Optional in the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2025 remains a strategic choice for aspirants with academic backgrounds or interests in agriculture, environmental sciences, or rural development.
The exam pattern for the Agriculture Optional is structured as follows:
The Agriculture Optional comprises two papers – Paper I and Paper II, each carrying 250 marks, making a total of 500 marks.
Candidates are required to attempt five questions in each paper.
Question 1 and Question 5 are compulsory in both papers.
From the remaining six questions, candidates must choose any three, ensuring that at least one question from each section (Section A and Section B) is answered.
Selecting the right set of reference books is critical for mastering the Agriculture Optional. The subject encompasses diverse disciplines like soil science, agronomy, genetics, plant breeding, animal husbandry, horticulture, and agricultural economics. The following are recommended for UPSC 2025:
S.No. | Book | Author(s) |
1 | Introductory Soil Science | K.D. Kundu |
2 | Principles of Agronomy | Yellamanda Reddy & Sankara Reddi |
3 | A Textbook of Agricultural Statistics | R. Rangaswamy |
4 | Fundamentals of Genetics | B.D. Singh |
5 | Plant Breeding Principles and Methods | B.D. Singh |
6 | Entomology | Vasant Gowariker |
7 | Fundamentals of Plant Pathology | Y.L. Nene, Bajaj & K.V. Singh |
S.No. | Book | Author(s) |
1 | Agricultural Economics and Farm Management | S.S. Johl & T.R. Kapoor |
2 | Indian Economy | Mishra and Puri |
3 | Agricultural Marketing in India | S.S. Acharya & N.L. Agarwal |
4 | Soil and Water Conservation Engineering | G.L. Harris |
5 | Irrigation Water Management | D.L. Pruthi |
6 | Post-Harvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables | L.R. Verma and V.K. Joshi |
7 | Elements of Horticulture | N. Kumar |
Candidates opting for Agriculture as their optional subject in UPSC CSE 2025 can benefit candidates with experience or interest in agriculture, the environment, or rural development. To succeed, it’s crucial to develop a targeted preparation plan to cover the vast syllabus effectively. Here are some strategies and tips to help you excel in Agriculture as your optional subject:
The table below contains the direct PDF links of the Previous Year Question Papers of Agriculture Optional Paper I and Paper II:
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional PYQ 2023 | |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper I (2023) | UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper II (2023) |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional PYQ 2022 | |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper I (2022) | UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper II (2022) |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional PYQ 2021 | |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper I (2021) | UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper II (2021) |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional PYQ 2020 | |
UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper I (2020) | UPSC CSE Agriculture Optional Paper II (2020) |
Must Read | |
NCERT Notes For UPSC | UPSC Daily Current Affairs |
UPSC Blogs | UPSC Daily Editorials |
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UPSC Mains Previous Year Papers | UPSC Test Series 2024 |
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