Skill Subjects: Agriculture

This course is a planned sequence of instructions consisting of Units meant for developing employability and vocational competencies of students of Class XI opting for vocational subject along with general education subjects. Part B of the syllabus has seven units.

Part B: Vocational Skills (60 Marks)

SECTION - I

Part A - AGRICULTURE AND CROP PRODUCTION

Unit I: Scope and Importance

• Definition of Agriculture, its branches
• Scope in the national economy and employment

Unit II: Physical Environment

1. Climate and Weather, elements of Weather: Rainfall, Temperature, Humidity, Wind, Sunshine, Climate Change and Global warming. Introduction to various meteorological equipments.
2. Soil, Soil texture and structure and its types, distribution and area.
3. Soil erosion and Soil conservation. Reclamation of problematic soils acidic and alkali.
4. Tillage definition and types. Concept of conservation and tillage.

Unit III: Agriculture Economics and Crop Production

1. Agricultural Economics, Cooperative system in Agriculture, Crop insurance. Kisan Credit Cards. Marketing of Agricultural products (supply chain, retailing, wholesale), haats.
2. Package of practices in field crops like important varieties, seed rate, sowing time, intercultural operations, yield and marketing for Rice, Wheat, Maize, Mustard, Sunflower, Soya bean, Groundnut, Black gram, Red gram, Pea, Jute, Sugarcane, Sorghum, Pearl millet and Finger millet.
3. Package of practices of fruits: Mango, Banana, Guava, Lime, Grape, Apple, Pomegranate. Vegetables: Potato, Tomato, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Spinach, Brinjal, Bottle gourd, Pumpkin, Cucumber. FlowerRose, Gladiolus, Marigold.
4. Types of seed-foundation and certified and methods of plant propagation – Layering and Cutting, and Tissue culture.
5. Important farm implements and their general maintenance.

PART B - GENETICS AND PLANT BREEDING

Unit IV: Genetics and Plant Breeding

1. 1. Cell and its structure, cell division-Mitosis and Meiosis and their significance in plant growth and development.
2. 2. Introduction to -DNA, RNA, and their differences.
3. 3. Role of Genetics in Plant breeding, self and cross-pollinated crops, methods of breeding in field cropsintroduction, Selection, Hybridization, Mutation.
4. 4. Mendel's laws of Inheritance. Illustrative depiction of the Mendel's experiments, their importance in plant breeding.

SECTION - II: Live stock Production

Unit V: Scope and Importance

• (a) Importance of livestock in Agriculture, National Economy and Nutritional security
• (b) Important animal based food products and their role in our diet.
• (c) Important indigenous and exotic breeds of cattle, buffalo and poultry, and quantitative and qualitative production details of produces (milk, meat and eggs)
• (d) Concept of an and pattern of cooperative system of milk procurement and pricing of milk. Marketing of milk in India

Unit VI: Care and Management

• (a) Animal body structure and functions.
• (b) Concept of grazing and stall feeding including poultry feeding.
• (c) Principles of feeding, feeding practices; important fodder crops; Silage and Hay preparation; Balanced ratio-definition and ingredients.
• (d) Housing of dairy animals and poultry animals.
• (e) Management of calves, bullocks, pregnant and milch animals as well as chicks and layers.
• (f) Production of milk and eggs.
• (g) Systems of milking by hand and by machine. Important considerations in both these methods.
• (h) Concept of clean milk production processing, pasteurization and packaging and milk. Value added products from milk.
• (i) Principles of disease management and vaccination.
• (j) Signs of sick animals, symptoms of common diseases in cattle and poultry-Rinderpest, Black quarter, Foot and Mouth, Mastitis, Haemorrhagic Septicaemia, Solmonellosis, bird flu, Fowl Pox and Ranikhet disease, their prevention and control.

Unit VII: Bio-Waste Management and Government Schemes

• (a) Utilization of animals in Bio-wastes and Biogas plant
• (b) Important government schemes for development of livestock dairy and purity in India. Their important features and eligibility criteria.