UPSC IFS Syllabus 2024 – Indian Forest Service Exam Pattern for Prelims Prelims, Mains, Interview

16-06-2024 (Sunday)

Particulars

Marks

Total

400

Papers

Maximum Marks

General English

General Knowledge

Optional Subject – I

Optional Subject – I

Optional Subject – II

Optional Subject – II

Total

1400 marks

Subject

UPSC IFS Syllabus

• Current events of national and international importance
• History of India and Indian National Movement Indian and World Geography- Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development- Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
• General Science.

• Comprehension Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision making and problem-solving.
• General mental ability
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level),
• Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)

Subject

UPSC IFS Syllabus 2024

UPSC IFS Syllabus for Mains Compulsory Subjects

• Candidates will be required to write an essay in the English language.
• Other questions will be designed to test their understanding of workman and English like the use of words. Passages will usually be set for a summary.

• General Knowledge and knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject.
• The paper will also include questions on Indian Polity including
  • The political system
  • The Constitution of India
  • History of India
  • Geography of nature

UPSC IFS Syllabus for Mains Optional Subjects

• Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management, and conservation.
• Physical and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production.
• Climatic elements as factors of crop growth, the impact of changing the environment on cropping patterns as indicators of environments.
• Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals, and humans.
• Cropping pattern in different agro-climatic zones of the country. Impact of high yielding and short-duration varieties on shifts in cropping pattern.
• Concepts of multiple cropping, multistorey, relay, and intercropping, and their importance in relation to food production.
• Package practices for production of important cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibers, sugar, and commercial and fodder crops are grown during Kharif and Rabi seasons in different regions of the country.
• Important features, scope, and propagation of various types of forestry plantations such as extension, social forestry, agroforestry, and natural forests. Weeds, their characteristics, dissemination, and association with various crops; their multiplication; cultural, biological, and chemical control of weeds. Soil-physical, chemical, and biological properties.
• Processes and factors of soil formation. Modern classification of Indian soils, Mineral and organic constituents of soils, and their role in maintaining soil productivity.
• Essential plant nutrients and other beneficial elements in soils and plants.
• Principles of soil fertility and its evaluation for judicious fertilizer use, integrated nutrient management. Losses of nitrogen in the soil, nitrogen-use efficiency in submerged rice soils, and nitrogen fixation in soils. Fixation of phosphorus and potassium in soils and the scope for their efficient use. Problem soils and their reclamation methods. Soil conservation planning on a watershed basis. Erosion and run-off management in hilly, foothills, and valley lands; processes and factors affecting them. Dryland agriculture and its problems.
• The technology of stabilizing agriculture production in rain-fed agriculture areas.
• Water-use efficiency in relation to crop production, criteria for scheduling irrigations, ways, and means of reducing run-off losses of irrigation water. Drip and sprinkler irrigation. Drainage of water-logged soils, quality of irrigation water, the effect of industrial effluents on soil, and water pollution. Farm management, scope, importance and characteristics, farm planning. Optimum resources use and budgeting. Economics of different types of farming systems. Marketing and pricing of agricultural inputs and outputs, price fluctuations and their cost; the role of cooperatives in the agricultural economy; types and systems of farming and factors affecting them. Agricultural extension, its importance, and role, methods of evaluation of extension programs, socio-economic survey and status of big, small, and marginal farmers and landless agricultural laborers; farm mechanization and its role in agricultural production and rural employment. Training programs for extension workers; lab to-land programs.

PAPER-II

• Cell Theory, cell structure, cell organelles and their function, cell division, nucleic acids-structure and function, gene structure and function. Laws of heredity, and their significance in plant breeding. Chromosome structure, chromosomal aberrations, linkage and cross-over, and their significance in recombination breeding. Polyploidy, euploid, and aneuploids.
• Mutation-micro and macro-and their role in crop improvement. Variation, components of variation. Heritability, sterility and incompatibility, classification and their application in crop improvement.
• Cytoplasmic inheritance, sex-linked, sex influenced, and sex-limited characters. History of plant breeding. Modes of reproduction, selfing, and crossing techniques. Origin and evolution of crop plants, the center of origin, the law of homologous series, crop genetic resources-conservation and utilization. Application of principles of plant breeding to the improvement of major field crops.
• Pure-line selection, pedigree, mass, and recurrent selections, combining ability, its significance in plant breeding. Hybrid vigor and its exploitation, backcross method of breeding, breeding for disease and pest resistance, and the role of interspecific and intergeneric hybridization.
• Role of biotechnology in plant breeding. Improved varieties, hybrids, and composites of various crop plants. Seed technology, its importance. Different kinds of seeds and their seed production and processing techniques. Role of public and private sectors in seed production, processing, and marketing in India.
• Physiology and its significance in agriculture. Imbibition, surface tension, diffusion, and osmosis. Absorption and translocation of water, transpiration, and water economy. Enzymes and plant pigments; photosynthesis-modern concepts and factors affecting the process, aerobic and non-aerobic respiration; C, C, and CAM mechanisms. Carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism. Growth and development; photoperiodism and vernalization. Auxins, hormones, and other plant regulators and their mechanism of action and importance in agriculture.
• Physiology of seed development and germination; dormancy. Climatic requirements and cultivation of major fruits, plants, vegetable crops, and flower plants; the package of practices and their scientific basis. Handling and marketing problems of fruit and vegetables. Principal methods of preservation of important fruits and vegetable products, processing techniques, and equipment. Role of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition.
• Raising of ornamental plants, and design and layout of lawns and gardens. Diseases and pests of field vegetables, orchards, and plantation crops of India. Causes and classification of plant pests and diseases. Principles of control of plant pests and diseases Biological control of pests and diseases. Integrated pest and disease management. Epidemiology and forecasting. Pesticides, their formulations, and modes of action. Compatibility with rhizobial inoculants. Microbial toxins. Storage pests and diseases of cereals and pulses, and their control. Food production and consumption trends in India. National and international food policies. Production, procurement, distribution, and processing constraints. Relation of food production to the national dietary pattern, major deficiencies of calorie and protein.

Paper I

Section A

• Soil and Water Conservation
• Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing

Section B 

• Irrigation and Drainage
• Agricultural Structures

PAPER-II

Section A

• Farm Power and Machinery
• Agro-energy

Section B 

• Agricultural Process Engineering
• Instrumentation and computer applications in Agricultural Engineering

PAPER-I

• Animal Nutrition
• Animal Physiology
• Livestock Production and Management
• Genetics and Animal Breeding

Paper-II

• Health and Hygiene
• Animal Diseases
• Veterinary Public Health
• Milk and Milk Products Technology
• Meat Hygiene and Technology
• Extension

PAPER-I

• Microbiology and Plant Pathology
• Cryptogams
• Phanerogams: Gymnosperms
• Plant Utility and Exploitation
• Morphogenesis

PAPER-II

• Cell Biology
• Genetics, Molecular Biology and Evolution
• Plant Breeding, Biotechnology and Biostatistics
• Physiology and Biochemistry
• Ecology and Plant Geography

PAPER-I

• Atomic structure
• Chemical bonding
• Solid State
• The gaseous state
• Thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics
• Phase equilibria and solutions
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical kinetics
• Photochemistry
• Surface phenomena and catalysis
• Bio-inorganic chemistry
• Coordination chemistry
•  General chemistry of ‘f’ block elements
• Non-Aqueous Solvents

PAPER II

• Delocalised covalent bonding
• Pericyclic reactions
• Chemistry and mechanism of reactions
• Polymeric Systems
• Synthetic uses of reagents
• Photochemistry
• Principles of spectroscopy and applications in structure elucidation

PAPER-I

Section A

• Fluid and Particle Dynamics
• Mass Transfer
• Heat Transfer

Section B

• Novel Separation Processes
• Process Equipment Design
• Process Dynamics and Control

Paper-II

Section A

• Material and Energy Balances
• Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
• Chemical Reaction Engineering

Section B

• Chemical Technology
• Environmental Engineering and Safety
• Process Engineering Economics

PAPER-I

Part-A

• Engineering Mechanics
• Strength of Materials
• Structural Analysis

Part-B

• Design of Structures: Steel, Concrete and Masonry Structures.

Part-C

• Fluid Mechanics
• Open Channel Flow
• Hydraulic Machines

Part-D

• Geo-Technical Engineering

PAPER-II

Part-A

• Construction Technology
• Construction Equipment
• Construction Planning and Management

Part-B

• Survey and Transportation Engineering

Part-C

• Hydrology, Water Resources and Engineering

Part-D

• Environmental Engineering

PAPER-1

Section-A

• Non-Chordata and Chordata

Section- B

• Ecology
• Ethology
• Economic Zoology
• Biostatistics
• Instrumental methods

PAPER-II

Section-A

• Cell Biology
• Genetics
• Evolution
• Systematics

Section-B 

• Biochemistry
• Physiology
• Developmental Biology

Paper-I

• Probability
• Statistical Inference
• Linear Inference and Multivariate Analysis
• Sampling Theory and Design of Experiments

Paper-II

• Industrial Statistics
• Optimization Techniques
• Quantitative Economics and Official Statistics
• Demography and Psychometry

Paper I

Section-A

• Classical Mechanics
• Special Relativity, Waves & Geometrical Optics
• Physical Optics

Section-B 

• Electricity and Magnetism
• Electromagnetic Theory & Black Body Radiation
• Thermal and Statistical Physics

Paper-II

Section-A

• Quantum Mechanics I
• Quantum Mechanics II & Atomic Physics
• Molecular Physics

Section-B 

• Nuclear Physics
• Particle Physics & Solid State Physics
• Electronics

Paper I

• Theory of Machines
• Mechanics of Solids
• Engineering Materials
• Manufacturing Science
• Manufacturing Management
• Elements of Computation

PAPER-II

• Thermodynamics
• I.C. Engines, Fuels and Combustion
• Heat Transfer, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

Paper-I

Section-A

• Linear Algebra
• Calculus
• Analytic Geometry

Section-B

• Ordinary Differential Equations
• Dynamics, Statics and Hydrostatics
• Vector Analysis

Paper-II

Section-A

• Algebra
• Real Analysis
• Complex Analysis
• Linear Programming

Section-B

• Partial differential equations
• Numerical Analysis and Computer programming
• Numerical integration
• Numerical solution of ordinary differential equations
• Computer Programming
• Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics

Paper-I

Section-A

• General Geology
• Geomorphology and Remote Sensing
• Structural geology

Section-B

• Paleontology
• Stratigraphy and Geology of India
• Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology

Paper-II

Section-A

• Mineralogy
• Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
• Sedimentology

Section-B

• Economic Geology
• Mining Geology
• Geochemistry and Environmental Geology

PAPER-I

Section A

• Silviculture – Genera
• Silviculture – systems
• Silviculture – Mangrove and Cold desert
• Silviculture of trees

Section B 

• Agroforestry, Social Forestry, Joint Forest Management and Tribology
• Forest Soils, Soil Conservation and Watershed management
• Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity
• Tree Improvement and Seed Technology

PAPER II

Section A

• Forest Management and Management Systems
• Forest Working Plan
•  Forest Mensuration and Remote Sensing
• Surveying and Forest Engineering

Section B 

• Forest Ecology and Ethnobotany
• Forest Resources and Utilization
• Forest Protection & Wildlife Biology
• Forest Economics and Legislation

Subject

Author/Publisher

General Studies