ICAR JRF Plant Sciences Syllabus 2026 — Code 02 Unit-wise Topics
Complete ICAR JRF Plant Sciences syllabus 2026 — Code 02 unit-wise topics for plant breeding, plant pathology, microbiology, seed science, and plant genetic resources.
ICAR JRF Plant Sciences Syllabus 2026 — Code 02
Major Subject Group: Plant Sciences
Sub-Subjects: 2.1 Plant Breeding & Genetics · 2.2 Plant Pathology · 2.3 Agricultural Microbiology/Microbiology · 2.4 Seed Science & Technology · 2.5 Plant Genetic Resources
This is the complete syllabus page for ICAR JRF Plant Sciences (Code 02). Code 02 is the broad plant-systems paper of the JRF track, combining genetics, breeding, disease science, microbiology, seed science, and plant genetic resources in one integrated subject group.
Exam Snapshot
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Subject Code | 02 — Plant Sciences |
| Subject Group | Major Subject Group: Plant Sciences |
| Total Questions | 120 MCQs |
| Duration | 2 Hours |
| Marking Scheme | +4 per correct answer |
| Negative Marking | −1/3 per wrong answer |
| Question Type | Multiple Choice (Single correct) |
| Medium | English |
Latest Official Notification Details
| Parameter | 2026-27 Official Detail |
|---|---|
| Notice Date | 08 May 2026 |
| Application Window | 08 May 2026 to 07 June 2026 (up to 5:00 PM) |
| Fee Payment Deadline | 07 June 2026 (up to 11:50 PM) |
| Correction Window | 09 June to 10 June 2026 |
| Exam Date | 04 July 2026 (Saturday) |
| Mode | Computer Based Test (CBT) |
| Pattern | Objective type MCQs |
| Medium | English only |
| Duration | 02 hours (120 minutes) |
| Test Cities | Around 122 cities across India |
| Source | NTA 2026 Public Notice PDF · ICAR Syllabus PDF |
What Is Officially Fixed For Code 02
- Code 02 is the official major subject group for Plant Sciences in AICE JRF/SRF (Ph.D.).
- The paper is conducted in English only, in CBT mode, for 120 minutes.
- The official syllabus combines plant breeding, pathology, microbiology, seed science, and plant genetic resources under one major subject group.
- NTA publishes the exam notice, dates, mode, duration, and application schedule, but it does not publish official unit-wise weightage for Plant Sciences.
- The “high-yield areas”, “best books”, and “revise first” parts below are therefore preparation guidance, not an official marks distribution chart.
Plant Sciences Revision View
Unit-I: General Agriculture
This common unit provides the same baseline agriculture foundation that appears across many ICAR JRF subject groups.
Crop Production and Soil Basics
- Importance of agriculture in national economy
- Basic principles of crop production
- Cultivation of rice, wheat, chickpea, pigeon-pea, sugarcane, groundnut, tomato, potato, and mango
- Major soils of India
- Role of NPK and their deficiency symptoms
Genetics, Physiology and Crop Protection
- Mendelian genetics
- Elementary knowledge of photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration
- Structure and function of carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes, and vitamins
- Major pests and diseases of rice, wheat, cotton, chickpea, sugarcane, and their management
Unit-II: Plant Sciences Core
This is the main scoring unit for Code 02. The paper usually tests how well you connect genetics, pathology, microbiology, seed science, and applied agriculture rather than studying them as isolated chapters.
Cell Biology, Genetics and Molecular Basics
- Structure and function of cell organelles
- Mitosis and meiosis
- Physical and chemical basis of heredity
- Chromosome structure
- Genes and operon concept
- Protein biosynthesis
- Transformation, recombination, and heterosis
Microbiology and Diversity
- Characteristics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms
- Differences between fungi, bacteria, mycoplasmas, and viruses
- Biological nitrogen fixation
- Nitrate assimilation
- Uses of microorganisms in agriculture
Plant Pathology
- Integrated disease management
- Sterilization, disinfection, and pasteurization
- Koch's postulates
- Etiological agents of rusts, smuts, powdery mildews, downy mildews, wilts, yellows, mosaic, necrosis, enations, blights, and witches-broom
Plant Breeding and Reproductive Basics
- Pollination and fertilization in flowering plants
- Plant hormones in seed germination and dormancy
- Basic plant breeding and genetic principles relevant to crop improvement
Seed Science and Technology
- Methods of seed testing
- Breeder, foundation, and certified seed
- Seed production in self-pollinated and cross-pollinated crops
Plant Genetic Resources and Applied Agriculture
- Elements of economic botany
- Food and industry linkages
- Composting and biogas production
- Important rural development programmes in India
- Organizational setup of agricultural research, education and extension in India
Exam-Focused High-Yield Areas
| Area | Why it matters in Code 02 prep |
|---|---|
| Plant pathogens and causal groups | One of the most repeated direct-question areas in Plant Sciences |
| Etiological agents and symptom linkage | Paper setters frequently turn disease names into causal-agent MCQs |
| Koch's postulates and disease management | High-return conceptual area with strong recall value |
| Chromosome structure, heredity, operon concept | Core genetics questions appear regularly |
| Transformation, recombination, and heterosis | Good bridge area between genetics and breeding |
| Seed classes and seed testing | Straightforward, scoring, and often asked |
| Nitrogen fixation and microbiology in agriculture | Reliable source of factual questions |
| Pollination, fertilization, and dormancy | Small but repeated theory zone |
Quick Reference: What To Revise First
| Area | What to focus on first |
|---|---|
| Plant Pathology | Pathogen groups, disease names, causal agents, Koch's postulates, integrated disease management |
| Genetics | Mitosis, meiosis, chromosome structure, heredity, operon concept, protein biosynthesis |
| Plant Breeding | Heterosis, recombination, transformation, pollination, fertilization |
| Microbiology | Fungi vs bacteria vs virus vs mycoplasma, nitrogen fixation, nitrate assimilation |
| Seed Science | Seed classes, seed testing methods, self- vs cross-pollinated seed production |
| General Agriculture | Major crops, soils, NPK deficiency, crop pests and diseases |
Best Books for ICAR JRF Plant Sciences
This list follows the same-channel Plant Science topper video and maps the named books to the JRF Plant Science syllabus.
| Book | Best use in the syllabus |
|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Agriculture, Vol. 1 & 2 — Arun Katyayan | Best for Unit-I General Agriculture |
| A Competitive Book of Agriculture — Nem Raj Sunda | Good for General Agriculture objective revision |
| Objective Agriculture for JRF Exam — S. R. Kantwa | Useful for General Agriculture MCQ practice |
| General Agriculture for ICAR Examinations — Muniraj Singh Rathore | Good support for broad agriculture revision |
| Plant Breeding: Theory and Practice — B. D. Singh | Best for plant breeding |
| Essentials of Plant Breeding — Phundan Singh | Good second source for breeding concepts and quick revision |
| Objective Plant Breeding — B. D. Singh & Phundan Singh | Best for breeding MCQs |
| Fundamentals of Genetics — B. D. Singh | Best for classical genetics before molecular genetics |
| Objective Genetics — Phundan Singh | Best for genetics MCQ practice |
| Plant Pathology ANGRAU Manual (PP 201) | Useful for pathology summary and exam-oriented revision |
| Fungi, Bacteria and Viruses — H. C. Dubey | Best for microbial groups and pathology support |
| Plant Physiology — Pandey & Sinha | Best for plant physiology |
| Microbiology — Tauro, Kapoor & Yadav | Useful for selected microbiology topics |
| Principles of Seed Technology — P. K. Agrawal | Best for seed science |
| Objective Plant Science — C. S. V. Sai Prasad | Good for full-paper MCQ revision |
| Plant Science at a Glance — Ajit Kumar Singh | Useful for quick revision |
| Genetics Made Easy | Good for fast genetics recap |
| Minimal rank-oriented plan | Plant Breeding: Theory and Practice — B. D. Singh, Fundamentals of Genetics — B. D. Singh, Plant Pathology ANGRAU Manual (PP 201), and Principles of Seed Technology — P. K. Agrawal + PYQs |
How To Prepare The General Agriculture Layer Efficiently With AgriDots
For plant- and agriculture-heavy JRF groups, the common agriculture base is explicit in the official syllabus itself. That is clear in groups such as Agronomy, Soil Science, Horticulture, Entomology, Plant Science, Plant Biotechnology, Social Sciences, and Water Science & Technology. In the animal, dairy, fisheries, food, engineering, forestry, community-science, and statistics groups, the same layer still improves scores because objective papers reward candidates who can quickly eliminate options using basic knowledge of crops, soils, schemes, extension, economics, statistics, and current agriculture.
So the practical rule is simple: do not prepare your subject in isolation. Keep one common-agriculture revision layer active throughout your JRF preparation.
Shared Books For The Common Agriculture Layer
| Book | Best use in common JRF preparation |
|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Agriculture, Vol. 1 & 2 — Arun Katyayan | Best base book for crop production, soils, nutrient deficiency, plant biology, genetics, pests, diseases, and agriculture basics |
| A Competitive Book of Agriculture — Nem Raj Sunda | Best for objective revision once the basic theory is already clear |
| Objective Agriculture for JRF Exam — S. R. Kantwa | Useful for MCQ drilling, recall speed, and mixed-agriculture practice |
| General Agriculture for ICAR Examinations — Muniraj Singh Rathore | Good backup book for one-line revision and broad competitive coverage |
Why AgriDots Is More Efficient Than Reading Books Alone
| Use AgriDots for | Why it is faster than books alone |
|---|---|
| Shared Agriculture Course | It compresses the overlapping JRF base into linked notes across agronomy, soil science, horticulture, genetics, pathology, entomology, economics, extension, animal husbandry, fisheries, ecology, and agricultural statistics instead of forcing you to extract overlap manually from multiple standard books |
| Topic-Wise Agriculture Practice Tests | You can revise chapter by chapter immediately after reading instead of waiting until one full book is complete |
| Agriculture Test Series | Mixed-subject Revision Warrior quizzes train recall across subjects, which is closer to how objective papers actually feel |
| Agriculture Current Affairs Hub | Books do not stay current on MSP, schemes, production reports, fertilizer policy, dairy/fisheries updates, or digital-agriculture changes |
Efficient JRF Workflow With AgriDots
- Read one main subject book for your core discipline and keep the rest of the books as support, not as parallel first reads.
- Use /courses/agriculture to finish the overlapping general-agriculture layer faster than building notes from multiple books.
- After each topic, solve topic-wise quizzes so weak areas become visible immediately.
- Use Revision Warrior mixed tests to train switching between crop, soil, genetics, economics, extension, and current-affairs questions.
- Use agriculture-current-affairs every week so your static preparation stays updated with schemes, policy, production, and report-based questions.
Why this works better than books alone: standard books build depth, but they are slow, repetitive across subjects, and weak on current agriculture. AgriDots is better for speed, revision order, topic linking, and exam-style recall, while books remain your depth source.
Preparation Strategy
- First stabilize pathology and genetics, because they carry a large share of direct theory questions.
- Make a separate one-page sheet for pathogen group, disease, symptom, and causal agent combinations.
- Revise seed classes, seed testing, and pollination basics as fast-scoring factual topics in the final phase.
- Keep microbiology compact by focusing on classification differences, nitrogen fixation, and agricultural uses.
- Solve PYQs by tagging each question as pathology, breeding, microbiology, or seed science so revision stays balanced.
Lesson Doubts
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