AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE (ARS) EXAM 

The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) is a premiere recruitment agency under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Established in 1973, ASRB is responsible for recruiting scientists and other officers for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

ASRB conducts the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) exam to recruit candidates as Scientists. Qualifying the ARS exam and becoming a scientist is a lifetime dream for many of the agricultural students who aspire to continue their career in agricultural field itself.

Here is the key information which you need to know before preparing for this esteemed exam

1. Eligibility qualification

The minimum educational qualification to write this exam was PhD during 2023, but this decision has been revised on 8^th of October 2024 and the minimum qualification was kept as master’s degree in relevant subject for direct recruitment of entry level scientist

Check the list of educational qualification for ARS examination from the following link

https://www.agriaddict.in/blog/list-of-educational-qualification-for-ars-examination-2025-for-various-disciplines

2. Age limit: The age of the applicants must be between 21 to 35 years.

Relaxation of age limit for different categories

Category	Upper Age Limit Relaxation
SC/ST Candidates	5 years
OBC (Non-Creamy layer)	3 years
PwBD	10 years + category-wise relaxation
ESM	As per prevailing Government Regulations

3. Nationality: A candidate must be either:

(i) a citizen of India, or

(ii) a citizen of Nepal, or

(iii) a citizen of Bhutan, or

(iv) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the 1^st January 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

(v) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

4. Revised scheme of examination for 2025 (which will remain as per the plan of examination followed in ARS examination, 2021)

ASRB NET and ARS examination will be conducted simultaneously as ARS/NET examination (as followed in ARS examination of 2021)

i) Preliminary examination	Objective type questions – qualifying in nature
ii) Mains examination	Witten /descriptive type (scoring in nature)
iii) Viva voce	Scoring in nature

5. Details of examination

Details of examination	Preliminary exam	Main examination
Mode of Exam	Online and LAN Based CBT (Computer Based Test)	offline (paper pen) mode
Duration of exam	120 minutes (2 hours)	180 minutes (3 hours)
Number of questions	150 (only one paper)	(Check the details in next paragraph)
Type of questions	Multiple Choice Questions with 4 options	Descriptive type question (all questions are compulsory)
Scoring	Total- 150 marks • 1 mark for each correct response • 1/3 mark for each incorrect response (negative scoring) • 0 for non-attempt	Total- 300 marks (Mains exam- 240 + viva voce- 60 marks)
Medium of paper	English and Hindi only	English and Hindi only

i) As ARS Selection Process comprises three stages i.e. preliminary examination, mains examination, and viva voce. The ARS (Preliminary) Examination is a qualifying examination, and its marks will not be carried forward for determining final merit of the candidates. The mains exam is worth a total of 240 marks and the viva voce is worth 60 marks. The marks for the preliminary exam are not taken into consideration while preparing the final merit list.

ii) Candidates must score equal to or more than the minimum ARS Cut Off Marks to qualify the selection process.

iii) The final selection of the candidates will be based on their performance in the mains examination and the viva voce. Selected candidates must complete the document verification process to be declared eligible for the available vacancies.

iv) Candidates who fail to score the minimum qualifying marks during any stage in the ARS Exam will not be eligible for the post. However, they have the opportunity to re-apply for the exam

(a) Minimum marks required for qualifying ARS (Preliminary) Examination:

*This data is from 2021 ARS exam

(b) ARS (Mains) Examination Paper (the following details are according to the scheme of examination followed in 2021)

ARS (Mains) Examination Paper consist of only one paper of 240 marks in the respective disciplines, to be attempted in 3 hours duration. The paper shall be divided in three parts A, B and C.

• Part ‘A’ will consist of 40 (forty) questions of 2 (two) marks each. In this part, answers required will be of very short, not exceeding 10 (Ten) words at the most.
• Part ‘B’ will have 20 (twenty) questions of 5 (five) marks each requiring one or two paragraphs and/or graphic explanation.
• Part ‘C’ will have 6 (six) essay type or descriptive type questions. Each question will carry 10 (ten) marks and may have two or more parts.
• The candidate can answer either in Hindi or English
• Answers are required to be written in the space provided below the question. In no case extra sheets will be provided. All questions in parts ‘A’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ will be compulsory.
• The candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the Mains Examination as may be decided by the Board in its discretion, shall be called for viva-voce in the ratio of 1:5 (category-wise) for each post.

(c) ARS Viva-voce

The candidates will be interviewed by a Board of competent and unbiased experts in the respective disciplines. The object of the viva-voce is to assess his/her suitability for the Service for which he/she has competed. The candidate will be expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in his/her own state or country, but also in modern current of thought and in new discoveries, which should rouse the curiosity of well-educated youth.

The Board will pay special attention to assessing the intellectual curiosity, critical powers of assimilation, balance of judgment and alertness of mind, the ability for social cohesion, integrity of character, initiative and capacity for leadership and scientific research.

6. Syllabus for ARS exam (updated syllabus for 2025 ARS exam)

As on 2024 the syllabus for ARS exam has been updated, Find the updated list of syllabus for ARS examination from the given link: https://www.agriaddict.in/blog/ars-exam-syllabus-2024-latest-updates-and-subject-wise-topics

7. Calendar of events (the schedule provided here is from 2021 and 2023 examination)

The details mentioned here regarding the ARS calendar of events are as per the 2021 and 2023 official notification. Candidates should wait for the release of the 2025 official notification to get updated details.

8. Application fee

9. Number of attempts

The number of attempts for appearing in the Agricultural Research Service Examination will be limited to 6 for Unreserved category and EWS category candidates (whether M.Sc./Ph.D.) including the in-service candidates of I.C.A.R. However, this restriction will not apply to SC and ST candidates who are otherwise eligible. The number of attempts for Other Backward Classes category and PwBD (belonging to General/OBC category) candidates will be 9

An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Examination. Notwithstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.

Restrictions on applying for the Examination: A candidate who has already qualified ARS examination (finally selected) in the earlier year will not be eligible to compete in the subsequent examinations conducted by ASRB for the same discipline in which he/she has earlier qualified. However, there is no bar to reappear for an ARS selected candidate in the subsequent ARS examination in a discipline different than the one in which he/she has already qualified

10. Centres for ARS (Preliminary examinations)

Centre Code	Centre	State/ UT
01	Anand/ Vadodara	Gujarat
02	Bengaluru	Karnataka
03	Barapani/ Shillong	Meghalaya
04	Bareilly	Uttar Pradesh
05	Barrackpore/ Kolkata	West Bengal
06	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh
07	Bhubaneswar	Odisha
08	Chandigarh/ Mohali	Chandigarh
09	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
10	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu
11	Dehradun	Uttarakhand
12	Delhi	Delhi
13	Guwahati	Assam
14	Hyderabad	Telangana
15	Indore	Madhya Pradesh
16	Jaipur	Rajasthan
17	Jammu	Jammu & Kashmir
18	Jodhpur	Rajasthan
19	Karnal	Haryana
20	Kochi	Kerala
21	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh
22	Ludhiana	Punjab
23	Mumbai	Maharashtra
24	Nagpur	Maharashtra
25	Patna	Bihar
26	Port Blair	Andaman & Nicobar Islands
27	Raipur	Chhattisgarh
28	Rajkot	Gujarat
29	Shimla	Himachal Pradesh
30	Srinagar	Jammu & Kashmir
31	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh
32	Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh

Centres for ARS mains examination

*Subjected to change for 2025

11. Vacancy list for ARS examination

Vacancy during 2021 ARS examination

S. No.	Code No.	Discipline	Total	SC	ST	OBC	EWS	UR	PwBD (OH/HI)
1	2	Agricultural Entomology	11	2	0	3	1	5	0
2	3	Agricultural Microbiology @	2	0	1	0	0	1	0
3	4	Economic Botany & PGR	5	0	1	1	1	2	0
4	5	Genetics & Plant Breeding	6	1	1	1	1	2	0
5	7	Plant Biochemistry @	4	0	1	1	0	2	1 (HI)
6	8	Plant Pathology	10	2	0	3	1	4	0
7	9	Plant Physiology	4	0	0	1	1	2	0
8	10	Seed Science & Technology	4	1	0	1	1	1	0
9	11	Floriculture & Landscaping #	6	0	0	2	1	3	1 (OH)
10	12	Fruit Science #	10	1	1	3	1	4	0
11	14	Vegetable Science #	6	1	1	1	1	2	0
12	15	Animal Biochemistry @	3	0	0	1	0	2	1 (HI)
13	16	Animal Biotechnology #	3	1	0	0	0	2	1 (OH)
14	17	Animal Genetics & Breeding	7	1	1	1	1	3	0
15	18	Animal Nutrition	4	1	0	1	0	2	0
16	19	Animal Physiology	4	0	1	1	0	2	0
17	20	Animal Reproduction & Gynaecology	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
18	21	Dairy Chemistry	3	0	1	1	1	0	0
19	22	Dairy Microbiology @	3	0	1	1	1	0	0
20	23	Dairy Technology	3	1	0	0	0	2	0
21	24	Livestock Production Technology	2	0	1	0	0	1	0
22	25	Livestock Production Management	4	0	0	2	0	2	0
23	26	Poultry Science	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
24	27	Veterinary Medicine	2	0	1	0	0	1	0
25	28	Veterinary Microbiology @	3	1	0	0	0	2	0
26	29	Veterinary Parasitology	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
27	33	Veterinary Surgery	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
28	34	Aquaculture	3	1	0	0	0	2	0
29	37	Fish Nutrition	2	0	1	0	0	1	0
30	38	Fish Health	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
31	39	Fish Genetics & Breeding	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
32	40	Agricultural Chemical@	3	0	0	1	1	1	2 (HI)
33	41	Agricultural Meteorology	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
34	42	Agroforestry	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
35	43	Agronomy	9	2	0	2	1	4	0
36	44	Environmental Science	4	0	1	1	0	2	0
37	45	Soil Science #	5	1	0	1	1	2	1 (OH)
38	46	Agricultural Business Management #	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
39	47	Agricultural Economics #	12	2	1	3	1	5	2 (OH)
40	48	Agricultural Extension	12	2	1	3	2	4	0
41	49	Agricultural Statistics #	10	1	2	3	1	3	1 (OH)
42	53	Land & Water Management Engineering	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
43	54	Bioinformatics #	4	1	0	1	0	2	0
44	55	Food Technology #	4	1	0	1	0	2	0
45	56	Agricultural Structure & Process Engineering	16	2	2	4	2	6	0
46	58	Agricultural Physics #	3	0	1	0	0	2	1 (OH)
47	59	Electronics & Instrumentation	5	1	0	1	0	3	0
48	60	Textile Manufacture & Technology@	2	0	1	0	0	1	1 (HI)
		Total	222	28	22	51	21	100	222

Vacancy during 2023 ARS examination

s. No.	Code No.	Discipline	Total	SC	ST	OBC	EWS	Unreserved	PwBD
1	02	Agricultural Entomology	13	2	1	3	1	6	0
2	03	Agricultural Microbiology	4	1	0	1	0	2	0
3	04	Economic Botany & Plant Genetic Resources	6	0	1	2	1	2	0
4	05	Genetics & Plant Breeding	12	2	0	4	1	5	1(D & HH)
5	07	Plant Biochemistry	4	0	1	1	0	2	1(D&HH)
6	08	Plant Pathology	10	1	0	3	1	5	0
7	09	Plant Physiology	8	1	0	2	1	4	0
8	10	Seed Science & Technology	6	1	1	1	0	3	1(OH)
9	11	Floriculture & Landscaping	4	0	1	1	1	1	1 (OH)
10	12	Fruit Science	11	2	0	3	1	5	1(OH)
11	14	Vegetable Science	6	1	0	2	0	3	0
12	15	Animal Biochemistry	3	0	0	1	0	2	1(OH)
13	16	Animal Biotechnology	2	0	0	0	0	2	1(OH)
14	17	Animal Genetics & Breeding	7	1	1	1	1	3	0
15	18	Animal Nutrition	8	1	1	2	1	3	1 (D&HH)
16	19	Animal Physiology	3	1	0	0	0	2	0
17	20	Animal Reproduction Gynecology & Obstetrics	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
18	21	Dairy Chemistry	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
19	22	Dairy Microbiology	3	0	1	0	0	2	0
20	23	Dairy Technology	4	2	0	0	0	2	0
21	24	Livestock Product Technology	2	0	0	1	1	0	0
22	25	Livestock Production and Management	8	1	1	2	1	3	0
23	26	Poultry Science	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
24	27	Veterinary Medicine	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
25	28	Veterinary Microbiology	4	0	0	1	1	2	0
26	29	Veterinary Parasitology	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
27	30	Veterinary Pathology	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
28	32	Veterinary Public Health	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
29	33	Veterinary Surgery	1	0	0	0	0	I	0
30	34	Aquaculture	4	1	0	1	0	2	0
31	36	Fish Processing Technology	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
32	37	Fish Nutrition	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
33	38	Fish Health	4	0	1	1	1	1	0
34	40	Agricultural Chemicals	3	0	0	1	0	2	2 (D&HH)
35	42	Agroforestry	3	0	0	1	0	2	0
36	43	Agronomy	8	1	1	2	1	3	1(OH)
37	44	Environmental Science	2	0	0	1	1	0	0
38	45	Soil Sciences	10	1	1	3	1	4	1 (D&HH) +l (OH)
39	46	Agricultural Business Management	4	1	0	1	1	1	0
40	47	Agricultural Economics	11	1	1	3	1	5	2(OH)
41	48	Agricultural Extension	11	1	1	3	1	5	0
42	49	Agricultural Statistics	8	1	1	2	1	3	1(D&HH) + 1(OH)
43	51	Farm Machinery & Power	4	1	0	1	1	1	0
44	53	Land & Water Management Engineering	4	1	0	1	1	1	0
45	54	Bioinformatics	2	0	0	1	0	1	0
46	55	Food Technology	4	0	1	1	0	2	1(OH)
47	56	Agricultural Structure and Process Engineering	12	1	3	3	1	4	0
48	57	Veterinary Anatomy	4	0	0	1	1	2	0
49	58	Agricultural Physics	3	0	0	1	0	2	1 (OH)

# Discipline identified as suitable for PwBD (Orthopedically Handicapped Persons). @ Discipline identified as suitable for PwBD (Hearing Impaired Persons).

N.B.: Appointment of PwBD candidates in the disciplines, other than the disciplines identified as suitable for them, shall not be considered.

Abbreviations:

UR- Unreserved; SC- Scheduled Caste; ST- Scheduled Tribe; OBC- Other Backward Class; EWS – Economically Weaker Section; PwBD - Persons with Benchmark Disabilities; OH- Orthopedically Handicapped; HI- Hearing Impaired

12. Brief particulars relating to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS):

1. Candidates selected for appointment to the Service will be appointed as Scientists in the Service on probation for a period of two years which may be extended, if necessary.

2. Candidates selected on the basis of the competitive examination shall be required to undergo an intensive course of study and training for a specified period.

3. On successful completion of the prescribed training, a candidate will be posted anywhere in India according to the Research priorities of the Council. He will be liable to serve at the initial place of posting at least for a period of five years for category A Stations and 3 years for category B Stations before seeking transfer on whatsoever ground from that place / station.

4. Every trainee shall be required to execute a bond to serve the Council (ICAR) for a minimum period of 4 years from the date of appointment, including the period of training. Failure to serve the ICAR for the stipulated period will render the candidate liable to refund to the Council a sum of < 1,25,000/- (Rupees one lakh twenty-five thousand only)

5. Any trainee found to be guilty of unbecoming conduct will be liable to be discharged even before completion of the period of training. Such a trainee will be liable to refund full amount of the emoluments paid to him / her during training period.

6. If in the opinion of the ICAR, the work or conduct of the officer on probation is unsatisfactory or shows that he is unlikely to become efficient, the ICAR may discharge him forthwith. On completion of the period of probation or any extension, if it is found that a candidate is not fit for permanent appointment, he / she may be discharged.

7. Conditions of service, leave, pension, etc. for the members of service shall be as determined by the Council.

8. A Scientist is liable to serve anywhere in India or abroad.

9. In ARS, the scientist will be placed in the same discipline in which he/she has qualified the ARS Preliminary examination and no request for change of discipline will be entertained.