PPSC Test Preparation Tips & Important Points for Agriculture Officer/Farm Manager/Cotton Inspector

• Before we dwell into some serious preparation tips for this exam, you need to make peace with one thing i.e. you need to acknowledge your stress instead of running away from it.
• This is because unless you accept something, you cannot cure it.
• Once you have accepted the above fact, you will come to realize that every candidate who has prepared well and is a potential competitor is feeling the same or even greater level of stress.
• It is a quite natural to feel nervous before crucial exams, more so in case of PPSC Agriculture Officer.

Important Points for Preparation

1. Production technology of major crops like cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, citrus, mango, potato, onion, chilies (technical name, common name, family, history, area, production, major growing areas, seed rate, sowing time, propagation methods, common insects, diseases and control measures, name of varieties of crops (try to get latest names recently approved), harvesting method, average yield).

2. Current issues /Burning issues of Agriculture e. g water conservation, water saving techniques (high efficiency irrigation systems (sprinkler, drip), sub surface irrigation, watter saving, selection of drought resistant crops, selection of sowing time etc), any special emerging insects like Cotton dusky bug, mealy bug,pink bollworm (its details and control measures can distinguish you from others candidates and you get more score). Value addition in agricultural products, supply chain management, harvest and post harvest handling. Integrated pest management (diseases + insects)

3. Extension methods/farmers contact methods (one to one, group meeting, media print and electronic, see extension book).

4. Study urdu literature about crops you can download from agriculture department website or visit your District Agriculture Office to collect the literature or AARI information section.

5. Keep in mind more question will be from Agronomy & Agriculture Extension, it is a tip for you, prepare accordingly (but I am not disappointing others, In 2007 a student from horticulture was at number 1 in test and interview ).

6. Paper pattern depends upon the examiner choice, his preference, his mind set, his subject and choice of recruiting department .

8. For searching more recent topics and relevant information discuss with each other.

Agriculture Officer – General Tips

2. Make and follow a study plan for remaining time.
3. Take some quizzes for Agriculture Officer and identify your weak areas.
4. Identify 2-3 areas where you can improve and everyday give 1 hour completely to those areas.
5. Do topic wise study.
6. Never make the mistake of mixing all the topics.  Don’t mix all topics. It will only confuse you.
7. Finish one topic and then only start the next topic.
8. Take small revision notes from each topic, it will help with last minute revision.
9. Do not forget about 20% General KnowledgePakistan Studies, Islamiat, Basic Math, Urdu, English, Computer, Everyday Science & Current Affairs) While focusing on professional knowledge it is natural to lose track of these three sections.
10. Well they are important too, as they have sectional cutoffs too.
11. Manage your time effectively. Make a daily schedule.
12. Do exercise and/or meditation to calm your mind and body.
13. Check and solve previous year papers for PPSC Agriculture exam.
14. If some topic is left, do not worry about it now. Focus on what you have prepared and solid it.
15. Confidence is important to crack the paper.
16. Do not feel afraid of the competition and give it your best shot.

PPSC Agriculture Officer Books to refer:

You can refer the following books to prepare for Agriculture officer:

1. Basics of Agriculture- Agrihunt Publishers.
2. Agriculture General MCQs – Bhatti Sons
3. You can also read Economic Times to be updated with commodities and various government policies related to the agriculture industry.
4. Read the policies outlined for the agriculture sector in the previous year’s budget.
5. Read the statistics for agriculture in the previous year’s report of Pakistan Beurue of Statistics.

Sample Papers for Agriculture Officer

Sample Paper 1
Sample Paper 2

Friends, we hope the above tips help you calm your mind down, charge your batteries and embark on the final phase of preparation for PPSC Agricultural Officer- examination.

All the best! Prepare well, Perform best!

Please do share with others, if you have any queries please ask them in the comments section below!