ICAR AIEEA PG 2027: Overview & Conducting Authority
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research All India Entrance Examination for Admission to Master Degree Programs (ICAR AIEEA PG 2027) is administered annually by the National Testing Agency (NTA). It governs postgraduate seat allocations across Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), and ICAR Deemed Universities (IARI, IVRI, NDRI, CIFE).
Aspirants preparing for the 2027 cycle must focus on factual retention, textbook conceptual clarity, and rigorous negative-marking control inside a real CBT testing simulator.
Key Exam Takeaways:
- Conducting Body: National Testing Agency (NTA) on behalf of ICAR New Delhi
- Examination Mode: Single-shift LAN-Based Computer Test (CBT)
- Total Questions: 120 Multiple Choice Questions (120 Minutes)
- Maximum Marks: 480 Marks (+4 for correct, -1 for incorrect)
- Medium of Exam: English Only
- Official Candidate Portal: exams.nta.ac.in/ICAR
Discipline Weightage Across Core Major Groups
Candidates appear in one Major Subject Group corresponding to their undergraduate discipline. The six most popular groups and their high-yield topics include:
| Major Subject Group | Question Weightage | High-Frequency Scoring Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Plant Sciences | 35% Genetics & Breeding, 25% Seed Tech, 25% Pathology, 15% Microbiology | Mendelian genetics, chromosome mapping, pureline & pedigree breeding, hybrid seed production techniques, fungal taxonomy, IPM |
| Agronomy | 40% Crop Production, 25% Weed Management, 20% Water Tech, 15% Meteorology | Cereal & pulse package of practices, critical crop irrigation stages, herbicide chemical families & selectivity, dryland agriculture |
| Horticulture | 35% Fruit Science, 30% Vegetable Science, 20% Floriculture, 15% Post-Harvest | Orchard planting systems, rootstocks, physiological disorders (black tip, spongy tissue), maturity indices, greenhouse floriculture |
| Physical Science (Soil Science) | 45% Soil Fertility, 25% Soil Physics, 20% Pedology, 10% Chemistry | Ion exchange capacity, nitrogen-phosphorus transformation, micronutrient availability, saline-sodic soil reclamation |
| Entomology & Nematology | 40% Economic Entomology, 30% Insect Taxonomy, 20% IPM, 10% Apiculture | Insect mouthparts & metamorphosis, ETL values, pesticide formulation & mode of action, root-knot nematode biology |
| Social Sciences | 50% Agricultural Economics, 50% Agricultural Extension Education | Production economics, market classification, price determination, extension teaching aids, communication models |
Standard Textbook Mapping & Retrieval Strategy
Top rankers in ICAR PG avoid scattered notes and master authoritative foundational textbooks:
1. "A Competitive Book of Agriculture" by Dr. Nem Raj Sunda: The gold standard for rapid factual recall and one-liner revisions.
2. "Fundamentals of Agriculture" by Arun Katyayan (Vols 1 & 2): Essential for deep conceptual clarity in agronomy, soils, physiology, and plant breeding.
3. "Agronomy Facts" by R. S. Meena: Essential for field crop packages, seed rates, and weed management figures.
Pair your textbook reading with daily mock practice on the AgriStart CBT Simulator to master 60-second time limits per question and eliminate negative marks.
Horticulture Test Series 2026 (ICAR AIEEA PG)
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