National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was established on July 12, 1982. It is a national financial institution which promotes the agriculture and rural development in India by furnishing financial aids.
NABARD Grade A exam provides a golden opportunity to the candidates for becoming a part of this prestigious institution that many dream of.
As per the notification, it is a three phased exam, phase 1(preliminary), phase2 (Mains), phase 3(Interview).
Syllabus for preliminary exam
Reasoning-
Seating arrangement, Puzzles, Syllogism, Statement based questions (Verbal reasoning), Inequality, Input-Output, Coding-Decoding, Data sufficiency, Blood relations, Miscellaneous Questions
Quantitative Aptitude
Data Interpretations, Quadratic Equations, Number Series, Simplification/ Approximation, Data Sufficiency, Arithmetic Questions, Quantity Comparisons, Mathematical Inequalities
English Language
Spotting the errors, Fill in the blanks, Sentence rearrangement, Para Jumbles, New pattern questions, Sentence improvement, Reading Comprehension, Cloze test
Computer Knowledge
Networking, Input & output devices, DBMS, MS Office, Internet, History of computer & generations, Shortcuts.
Economic & Social Issues
Nature of Indian Economy – Structural and Institutional features – Economic underdevelopment – Opening up the Indian Economy – Globalization – Economic Reforms in India – Privatization. Inflation – Trends in Inflation & their Impact on National Economy and Individual Income.
Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India – Rural and Urban – Measurement of Poverty – Poverty Alleviation Programs of the Government.
Agriculture – Characteristics / Status – Technical and Institutional changes in Indian Agriculture – Agricultural performance – Issues in Food Security in India – Non Institutional and Institutional Agencies in rural credit.
Industry-Industrial and Labour Policy – Industrial performance – Regional Imbalance in India’s Industrial Development – Public Sector Enterprises. Rural banking and financial institutions in India – Reforms in Banking/ Financial sector.
Globalization of Economy – Role of International Funding Institutions – IMF & World Bank – WTO – Regional Economic Co-operation.
Social Structure in India – Multiculturalism – Demographic trends – Urbanization and Migration – Gender Issues Joint family system – Social Infrastructure – Education – Health and Environment. Education – Status & System of Education – Socio -Economic Problems associated with Illiteracy – Educational relevance and educational wastage – Educational Policy for India. Social Justice: Problems of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes – socio-economic programs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes. Positive Discrimination in favour of the under privileged – Social Movements – Indian Political Systems – Human Development. Current Economic & Social Issue.
Agriculture & Rural Development
Agriculture-
Definition, meaning and its branches Agronomy: definition, meaning and scope of agronomy, Classification of field crops. Factors affecting on crop production, Agro Climatic Zones; Cropping Systems: Definition and types of cropping systems. Problems of dry land agriculture; Seed production, seed processing, seed village; Meteorology: weather parameters, crop-weather advisory; Precision Farming, System of Crop Intensification, organic farming
- Soil and Water Conservation: Major soil types, soil fertility, fertilizers, soil erosion, soil conservation, watershed management;
- Water Resource: Irrigation Management: types of irrigation, sources of irrigation, crop-water requirement, command area development, water conservation techniques, micro-irrigation, irrigation pumps, major, medium and minor irrigation.
- Farm and Agri Engineering : Farm Machinery and Power, Sources of power on the farm- human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and biomass, biofuels, water harvesting structures, farm ponds, watershed management, Agro Processing, Controlled and modified storage, perishable food storage, Godowns , bins and grain silos.
- Plantation & Horticulture: Definition, meaning and its branches. Agronomic practices and production technology of various plantation and horticulture crops. Post-harvest management, value and supply chain management of Plantation and Horticulture crops.
- Animal Husbandry: Farm animals and their role in Indian economy, Animal husbandry methods in India, common terms pertaining to different species of livestock, Utility classification of breeds of cattle. Introduction to common feeds and fodders, their classification and utility, Introduction to the poultry industry in India (past, present and future status), Common terms pertaining to poultry production and management.Concept of mixed farming and its relevance to socio-economic conditions of farmers in India. Complimentary and obligatory nature of livestock and poultry production with that of agricultural farming.
- Fisheries: Fisheries resources, management and exploitation – freshwater, brackish water and marine; Aquaculture- Inland and marine; biotechnology; post-harvest technology. Importance of fisheries in India, Common terms pertaining to fish production.
- Forestry: Basic concepts of Forest and Forestry. Principles of Silviculture, forest mensuration, forest management and forest economics. Concepts of social forestry, Agroforestry, joint forest management. Forest policy and legislation in India, India State of Forest Report 2015. Recent developments under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Changes.
- Agriculture Extensions: Its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s (KVK) in dissemination of Agricultural technologies.
- Ecology and Climate Change: Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Causes of climate change, Green House Gases (GHG), major GHG emitting countries, climate analysis, distinguish between adaptation and mitigation, climate change impact to agriculture and rural livelihood, carbon credit, IPCC, UNFCCC, CoP meetings, funding mechanisms for climate change projects, initiatives by Government of India, NAPCC, SAPCC, INDC.
- Present Scenario of Indian Agriculture and Allied activities; recent trends, major challenges in agriculture measures to enhance viability of agriculture. Factors of production in agriculture, Agricultural Finance and Marketing, Impact of Globalization on Indian Agriculture and issues of Food Security, Concept and Types of Farm Management.
Rural Development-
Concept of Rural Area, Structure of the Indian Rural Economy-Importance and role of the rural sector in India- Economic, Social and Demographic Characteristics of the Indian rural economy, causes of rural backwardness. Rural population in India; Occupational structure, Farmers, Agricultural Labourers, Artisans, Handicrafts, Traders, Forest dwellers/tribes and others in rural Indian Trends of change in rural population and rural work force; problems and conditions of rural labour; Issues and challenges in Handlooms Panchayati Raj Institutions – Functions and Working. MGNREGA, NRLM – Aajeevika, Rural Drinking water Programs, Swachh Bharat, Rural Housing, PURA and other rural development programs.
Mains Exam (200 Marks)
Paper I- Descriptive
General English- 100 marks- 90 minutes
Paper II- Objective
For General Post – Economic & Social Issues; Agriculture and Rural Development- 100 marks- 90 minutes
Paper II- Objective
For Other Posts – Related to their discipline -100 marks- 90 minutes
Syllabus for phase 2
Paper 1- Descriptive
English
- Precise (20)
- Precise paragraph question(20)
- Letter / Report Writing(20)
- Essay writing(40)
Paper 2- MCQ based
- Economic & Social Issues
- Agriculture & Rural Development (Emphasizing on rural India)
Interview- 25 Marks
Key focus for acing the exam:-
- Newspaper reading.
- Proper analysis of important current affairs topics.
- Practice your writings on computer.
- Detailed understanding of patterns of essay, precise, comprehension etc.