Semester 2

Definition and Meaning of Physical Fitness, First Aid, Track & Field, Games
Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Shuttle Badminton, Cricket, Health Related Physical Fitness Test,
Concept of Yogic Practices, Asana, Pranayama, Meaning and Concepts of Meditation

Introduction to Soil and Water Conservation, Causes of soil erosion. Definition and agents of soil
erosion, water erosion. Forms of water erosion. Gully classification and control measures. Soil loss
estimation by Universal Soil Loss Equation. Soil loss measurement techniques. Principles of erosion
control. Engineering measures of soil and water conservation - contouring, contour bund , graded
bund and bench terracing Water harvesting and its techniques. Introduction to irrigation –
terminologies – irrigation methods – micro irrigation –drip and sprinkler irrigation - fertigation.
Introduction to irrigation pumps and their selection.

Education: meaning, definition & Types; Extension Education- meaning, definition, scope and
process; objectives and principles of Extension Education; Extension Programme planning- Meaning,
Process, Principles and Steps in Programme Development. Extension systems in India: extension
efforts in pre-independence era (Sriniketan, Marthandam, Firka Development Scheme, Gurgaon
Experiment, etc.) and post-independence era (Etawah Pilot Project, Nilokheri Experiment, etc.);
various extension/ agriculture development programmes launched by ICAR/ Govt. of India (IADP,
IAAP, HYVP, KVK, IVLP, ORP, ND,NATP, NAIP, etc.). New trends in agriculture extension:
privatization extension, cyber extension/ e-extension, market-led extension, farmer-led extension,
expert systems, etc.Rural Development: concept, meaning, definition; various rural development
programmes launched by Govt. of India. Community Dev.-meaning, definition, concept & principles,
Philosophy of C.D. Rural Leadership: concept and definition, types of leaders in rural context;
extension administration: meaning and concept, principles and functions. Monitoring and evaluation:
concept and definition, monitoring and evaluation of extension programmes; transfer of technology:
concept and models, capacity building of extension personnel; Extension teaching methods: meaning,
classification, individual, group and mass contact methods

Role of livestock in the national economy. Reproduction in farm animals and poultry. Housing
principles, space requirements for different species of livestock and poultry. Management of calves,
growing heifers and milch animals. Management of goat. Incubation, hatching and brooding.
Management of growers and layers. Important Indian and exotic breeds of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat,
swine and poultry. Improvement of farm animals and poultry. Digestion in livestock Classification of
feedstuffs. Nutrients and their functions. Feed ingredients for ration for livestock and poultry. Feed
supplements and feed additives. Feeding of livestock and poultry. Prevention (including vaccination
schedule) and control of important diseases of livestock and poultry.

Economics: Meaning, scope and subject matter, definitionsapproaches to economic analysis; micro
and macro economics, positive and normative analysis. Nature of economic theory; rationality
assumption, concept of equilibrium. Agricultural economics: meaning, definition, characteristics of
agriculture, importance and its role in economic development. Basic concepts: Goods and services,
desire, want, demand, utility, cost and price, wealth, capital, income and welfare. Demand: meaning,
law of demand, demand schedule and demand curve, determinants, Elasticity of demand: concept
degrees of elasticity and measurement of price elasticity, income elasticity and cross elasticity. Utility
theory; law of diminishing marginal utility, equi-marginal utility principle. Consumer’s equilibrium
and derivation of demand curve, concept of consumer surplus. Production: process, creation of utility,
factors of production, input output relationship. Cost: Cost concepts- fixed cost, variable cost Supply:
Stock v/s supply, law of supply, supply schedule, supply curve, determinants of supply, elasticity of
supply. Market structure: meaning and types of market, basic features of perfectly competitive and
imperfect markets. Price determination under perfect competition; Distribution theory: meaning,
factor market and pricing of factors of production. Concepts of rent, wage, interest and profit.National
income: Meaning and importance, circular flow, concepts of national income accounting and
approaches to measurement, difficulties in measurement. Population: Importance, Malthusian and
Optimum population theories, natural and socio-economic determinants. Money: Barter system of
exchange and its problems, evolution, meaning and functions of money, classification of money,
money supply, general price index, inflation and deflation. Agricultural and public finance: meaning,
micro v/s macro finance, need for agricultural finance, public revenue and public expenditure. Tax:
meaning, direct and indirect taxes, agricultural taxation, VAT. Economic systems: Concepts of
economy and its functions, important features of capitalistic, socialistic and mixed economies.
Welfare Economics – meaning and definition.

Introduction to crop physiology and its importance in agriculture; Plant cell- an overview- Structure
and functions of cell organelles; Crop water relations, water potential and its components, diffusion
and osmosis, absorption of water; Transpiration and stomatal physiology, water use efficiency.
Mineral nutrition of plants- functions and deficiency symptoms of nutrients– nutrient uptake
mechanisms- foliar nutrition and hydroponics. Photosynthesis - Light and dark reactions C3, C4
and CAM plants, photorespiration: Plant respiration- glycolysis, TCA cycle and Electron transport
chain, Alternate respiration in plants; Plant growth regulators – physiological roles and agricultural
uses; Physiological aspects of growth and development of major crops; Photoperiodism and
vernalisation; Growth analysis, role of physiological growth parameters in crop productivity

Definition and scope of Agricultural Entomology. History of Entomology in India. Insects in relation
to man. Economic classification of insects. Dominance of insects. Classification of phylum
Arthropoda. Relationship of class insecta with other classes of Arthropoda.
External Morphology: Structure and functions of integument. Structure of head, thorax and abdomen.
Body appendages (including genitalia) and their modifications. Sound and light producing
organs.Anatomy and General Physiology: Structure and function of digestive, circulatory, respiratory,
excretory, reproductive, endocrine, exocrine, nervous systems and sense organs.Development:
Embryonic and post embryonic development. Types of metamorphosis. Types of immature
stages.Principles and practices of taxonomy, functions of taxonomy, role of taxonomy in pest
management. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Insects and their allies. Super
class -Hexapoda and class-Insecta. Classification of insects up to family. Important families, their
identifying characters and economic importance.

Historical development, concept, nature and role of plant breeding, major achievements and future
prospects; Genetics in relation to plant breeding, modes of reproduction and apomixes, self –
incompatibility and male sterility- genetic consequences, cultivar options. Domestication,
Acclimatization, introduction; Centre of origin/diversity, component of Genetic variation;
Heritability and genetic advance; Genetic basis and breeding methods in self- pollinated crops-mass
and pure line selection, hybridization techniques and handling of segregating population; Multiline
concept. Concepts of population genetics and Hardy-Weinberg Law, Genetic basis and methods of
breeding cross pollinated crops, modes of selection; Heterosis and inbreeding depression,
development of inbred lines and hybrids, composite and synthetic varieties; Breeding methods in
asexually propagated crops, clonal selection and hybridization; Wide hybridization and pre-breeding;
Polyploidy in relation to plant breeding, mutation breeding-methods and uses; Breeding for important
biotic and abiotic stresses; Biotechnological tools-DNA markers and marker assisted selection.
Participatory plant breeding; Plant Breeders and & Farmer’s Rights.

Introduction and importance of organic manures, properties and methods of preparation of bulky and
concentrated manures. Green/leaf manuring. Fertilizer recommendation approaches. Integrated
nutrient management.Chemical fertilizers: classification, composition and properties of major
nitrogenous, phosphatic, potassic fertilizers, secondary & micronutrient fertilizers, Complex
fertilizers, nano fertilizers Soil amendments, Fertilizer Storage, Fertilizer Control Order.History of
soil fertility and plant nutrition. criteria of essentiality. role, deficiency and toxicity symptoms of
essential plant nutrients, Mechanisms of nutrient transport to plants, factors affecting nutrient
availability to plants. Chemistry of soil nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium,
sulphur and micronutrients. Soil fertility evaluation, Soil testing. Critical levels of different nutrients
in soil. Forms of nutrients in soil, plant analysis, rapid plant tissue tests. Indicator plants. Methods of
fertilizer recommendations to crops. Factor influencing nutrient use efficiency (NUE), methods of
application under rainfed and irrigated conditions.

Irrigation: definition and objectives. Role of water in soil and plants-Water resources and irrigation
development in India and Kerala.Soil–plant-water-relationships.Soil moisture constants.Evapotranspiration,
potential evapo-transpiration and consumptive use, Reference crop evapo-transpiration
(ETo)- Crop co-efficient (Kc)- Kc values for different crops. Main empirical methods of calculation
of ETo- Effective rainfall, Water requirement of crops- Factors affecting water requirement of crops-
Methods of determining water requirement-effective rainfall- Scheduling irrigation based on various
approaches – Methods of irrigation.Surface , subsurface, overhead and micro irrigations including
sprinkler, drip and bubbler irrigation. Irrigation efficiency- Water productivity and water use
efficiency- Agronomic techniques to improve water productivity- Conjunctive use of water- irrigation
water quality criteria and its management. Water management of principal crops of Kerala.
Agricultural drainage-causes of water logging and types of drainage.