IBPS AFO Syllabus: New Prelims, Mains and Agriculture Topics

How the IBPS AFO syllabus is spread over three stages

1. Prelims: four timed sections. Every section has its own minimum score that you have to reach, and these marks do not count later.
2. Mains: four objective tests and a descriptive English paper. Professional knowledge carries 100 of the 225 marks and drives your rank.
3. Interview: 100 marks, conducted by participating banks with IBPS coordination. You need 40 out of 100 to pass it; reserved category and disabled applicants (SC, ST, OBC, PwBD) need 35.

For the final list the notification gives a weightage of 80 for mains and 20 for the interview. It also has a line saying mains marks alone are used for shortlisting and merit, so read the selection clause in your own cycle's notice carefully.

IBPS AFO exam pattern for prelims

Each agriculture question is worth 2 marks, double the others, so 20 minutes on that section can lift your total far more than the aptitude tests.

AFO mains exam pattern

The notification says the tests other than professional knowledge are qualifying, while also asking for a minimum score in every test. Treat English, reasoning and maths as hurdles you must clear, and put your scoring effort into agriculture. What the two descriptive questions will ask is not spelt out, so check the information handout IBPS releases before the mains.

Professional knowledge: the agriculture syllabus

No official chapter-wise list exists for this paper. The subjects below are the ones past AFO papers have drawn on, and they match a standard four year agriculture degree.

• Agronomy: crop seasons, kharif and rabi crops, cropping systems, sowing methods, weed control, irrigation methods and water management, dryland farming.
• Soil science: soil types of India, soil fertility, pH and reclamation, major and micro nutrients, fertilisers and manures, soil health card.
• Horticulture: fruit and vegetable crops, propagation, post harvest handling, floriculture and plantation crops.
• Plant protection: insect pests and diseases of major crops, integrated pest management, pesticides and their safe use.
• Genetics and plant breeding: seed types, high yielding varieties, hybrids and seed certification.
• Animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries: breeds of cattle and buffalo, poultry, feed and fodder, inland and marine fisheries.
• Agricultural engineering and forestry: farm machinery, micro irrigation, agroforestry and social forestry.
• Agricultural economics and extension: farm management, agricultural marketing, crop insurance, credit and cooperatives, extension methods.
• Schemes and current agriculture: central schemes for farmers, minimum support price, priority sector lending to agriculture, and fresh news from farming and rural credit.

Aptitude and English topics

• Reasoning: puzzles built on rows, circles, floors or boxes, syllogisms, inequalities, coded statements, family trees, directions and ranking. Mains reasoning has 40 questions, so expect longer puzzle sets.
• Quantitative aptitude: chart and table sets, approximate calculations, missing number series, comparing roots of two quadratics, plus word problems on percentages, profit, ratios, interest, work rates and travel speeds.
• English: passages with inference questions, cloze passages, spotting grammatical errors, single and double fillers, para jumbles and word usage.
• Descriptive English: practise short essays and formal letters on rural and banking themes until you can write one in 15 minutes.

How to split your preparation

With agriculture worth 50 of 125 prelims marks and 100 of 225 mains marks, it should take about half your study time from day one, not just after prelims.

1. First 6 weeks: one agriculture subject per week from your degree notes, plus daily 30 minute sets of reasoning and maths.
2. Weeks 7 to 10: sectional tests timed exactly at 20 minutes each for prelims; build a one page sheet per agriculture subject with crop varieties, nutrient facts and schemes.
3. After prelims: full mains mocks with the 155 minute layout, one essay and one letter every other day, and revision of agricultural economics and schemes for the interview.

Who can apply for AFO

You need a four year bachelor's degree in agriculture or a listed allied field, such as horticulture, animal husbandry, veterinary science, dairy science or technology, fishery science, forestry, agricultural biotechnology, food science or technology, agricultural engineering or sericulture. You also have to prove basic computer skills, for example with a computer course certificate or by having studied computers in school or college.

AFO applicants in the newest cycle had to be aged 20 at least and 30 at most, with 5 years of relaxation for SC or ST applicants, 3 years for non creamy layer OBC applicants and 10 years for applicants with benchmark disability. Banking aspirants comparing posts can look at the NABARD grade A syllabus, another officer exam with a heavy rural and farm focus, the IBPS PO syllabus for general banking roles, and our banking section.

What to read for AFO

Your degree textbooks and class notes are the best base for professional knowledge, backed by a standard objective agriculture guide for revision. Government sources such as the agriculture ministry's annual report and scheme pages are useful for schemes and current figures. For aptitude, use any standard bank exam practice book. Previous AFO papers from earlier cycles still help for agriculture, though their aptitude sections followed the older layout.