ASRB NET syllabus 2026 signifies the subject-specific knowledge that candidates must show in their chosen agricultural discipline. It is set by the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) to assess candidates’ suitability for teaching or technical posts in agricultural universities and institutes. The syllabus covers detailed unit-wise topics across 60 disciplines. The syllabus is the same for NET, ARS, SMS, and STO. Prelims is common for all streams, but for ARS, SMS, and STO, ASRB has set Mains (Descriptive in nature) and an Interview.
ASRB NET syllabus covers discipline-specific themes for National Eligibility Test (NET) as well as Agricultural Research Service exam (ARS), Subject Matter Specialist (T‑6) exam, and Senior Technical Officer (T‑6) exam (STO). It includes theory, applications, and recent developments in each field.
Download ASRB NET Syllabus 2026
| Discipline | Syllabus Topics |
|---|---|
| Agricultural Biotechnology | Cell structure and function, Biomolecules and metabolism, Enzymology, Molecular genetics, Gene expression, Molecular biology techniques, Gene cloning, Molecular biology, Plant molecular biology, Tissue culture, Plant genetic engineering |
| Agricultural Entomology | Systematics, Morphology, Embryology, Internal anatomy and physiology, Ecology, Biological control, Chemical control and toxicology, Host plant resistance, Innovative approaches in pest control, Integrated pest management, Pesticide application equipment, Pests of field crops and their management, Pests of horticultural crops and their management, Pests of stored products and their management, Arthropod vectors of plant diseases, Honey bees and bee-keeping, Silkworms and sericulture, Lac insect, Other useful insects, Statistics and computer application |
| Agricultural Microbiology | History of microbial world, Microbial ecology and physiology, Soil microbiology, Environmental microbiology, Basic microbiological techniques, Microbial biotechnology |
| Economic Botany & Plant Genetic Resources | Plant taxonomy and biosystematics, Economically important plants-I, Economically important plants-II, Economically important plants-III, Biodiversity and plant genetic resources, Germplasm augmentation, Germplasm conservation, Biotechnology in PGR, Plant quarantine, Germplasm characterization, evaluation, maintenance and regeneration |
| Genetics & Plant Breeding | General genetics and plant breeding, Economic botany and plant breeding methods, Genome organization and cytogenetics of crop plants, Quantitative and biometrical genetics, Genetic engineering and biotechnology tools in plant breeding, Plant breeding for stress resistance and nutritional quality, Plant genetic resources and their regulatory system, Varietal release and seed production, Statistical methods and field plot techniques |
| Nematology | History and economic importance, Nematode taxonomy and morphology, Nematological techniques, Nematode ecology, Plant nematode relationships, Nematode physiology and cytology, Nematode management, Interactions of nematodes with soil organisms, Statistics |
| Plant Biochemistry | Basic biochemistry and biomolecules, Intermediary metabolism, Enzymes, vitamins and hormones, Molecular biology, Techniques in biochemistry, Biochemistry of food-grains, fruits and vegetables, Photosynthesis, Plant metabolic processes, Plant molecular biology, Plant biotechnology/genetic engineering |
| Plant Pathology | History and principles of plant pathology, Laboratory and analytical techniques, Physiological and molecular plant pathology, Mycology, Plant bacteriology, Plant virology, Plant disease epidemiology, Phanerogamic parasites and non-parasitic diseases, Fungal diseases of crop plants, Bacterial and viral diseases of crop plants, Management of plant diseases |
| Plant Physiology | Cell organelles and water relations, Metabolic processes and growth regulation, Crop productivity and modelling, Abiotic stress responses in plants, Plant growth regulators and development, Mineral nutrition, Climate and climate change, Seed physiology, Physiology of flowering and reproduction, Physiology of horticultural and plantation crops, Post-harvest physiology, Morphogenesis, Tissue culture and plant transformation |
| Seed Science and Technology | Seed production, Seed processing, Seed quality control, Seed storage, Seed health, Seed industry development and marketing, Protection of plant varieties |
| Floriculture and Landscaping | Breeding, Production technology of cut flowers, Production technology for loose flowers, Landscaping, Protected floriculture, Value addition, Turfing and turf management, Computer-aided designing for outdoor and indoor landscaping |
| Fruit Science | Subtropical and temperate fruit production, Biodiversity and conservation, Canopy management, Breeding of fruit crops, Post-harvest technology, Growth and development, Protected fruit culture |
| Spices, Plantation, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants | Production of plantation crops, Production technology of spice crops, Agronomy of medicinal, aromatic and under-utilized crops, Breeding of plantation crops and spices, Breeding of medicinal and aromatic crops, Processing of plantation crops, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants, Organic spice and plantation crop production technology |
| Vegetable Science | Production technology of cool season vegetable crops, Production technology of warm season vegetable crops, Breeding of vegetable crops, Growth and development, Seed production, Systematics of vegetable crops, Production technology of underexploited vegetable crops, Post-harvest technology of vegetable crops |
| Animal Biochemistry | Scope of biochemistry and molecular biology in animal sciences, Structure and properties of carbohydrates and fats, Amino acids structure and properties, Major classes of enzymes, Bioenergetics and biological oxidation, Mechanism of storage transmission and expression of genetic information, Functions of water and lipid soluble vitamins, Blood composition and biochemical constituents, Basic principles and use of photometric and chromatographic techniques, Environmental pollution in relation to animal health |
| Animal Biotechnology | Cell biology, Molecular biology, Gene structure and regulation of expression, Genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology, Cell culture and hybridoma technology, Reproductive biotechnology, Related molecular biology techniques |
| Animal Genetics and Breeding | Overview of genetics, Advanced genetics, Overview of breeding, Genetic properties of population, Population genetics, Genetic strategies, Selection and selection experiments, Genetic laboratory techniques, Research techniques for quantitative animal genetics, Laboratory animal breeding |
| Animal Nutrition | Energy and proteins, Minerals vitamins and feed additives, Rumen ecosystem and functions, Non-ruminant nutrition, Nutrient requirements, Forage conservation and evaluation, Feed processing and technology, Anti-metabolites and toxic principles, Elements of research methodology, Clinical nutrition |
| Animal Physiology | Cellular basis of physiology, Blood and circulation, Respiration, Excretion, Digestion, Muscle physiology, Nervous system, Endocrinology, Reproduction, Growth physiology, Climate physiology, Behavioural physiology |
| Animal Reproduction and Gynaecology | Veterinary gynaecology, Reproductive endocrinology, Accidents during gestation, Veterinary obstetrics, Andrology, Male infertility, Frozen semen technology and artificial insemination, Reproductive technology, Infertility in cows and buffaloes, Reproduction and infertility in ovine/caprine, swine, equine, canine and feline species |
| Dairy Chemistry | Milk constituents and their properties, Distribution and genetic polymorphism of milk proteins, Milk lipids and oxidation, Milk adulteration detection methods, Cream butter and ghee properties, Heat stability of milk, Cheese composition and varieties, Ice cream composition and structure, Quality control and assurance, Spectroscopy applications |
| Dairy Microbiology | Microflora, Processing techniques such as bactofugation and thermisation, Naturally occurring preservatives, Microbiological quality of fat rich products, Lactic acid bacteria, Functional and health foods, Role of starters in fermented products, Microbiological quality of indigenous dairy products, Byproduct preparation, Quality control and assurance |
| Dairy Technology | Market milk, Fat-rich products, Frozen milk products, Cheese and fermented milk products, Concentrated and dried milk products, Indigenous milk products, Utilization of milk by-products, Packaging, Cleaning and sanitation, Advances in dairy technology, Legal and quality aspects |
| Livestock Products Technology | Basic and general aspects, Abattoir and poultry processing plants, Processing and preservation, Wool mohair and fur, Packaging, Quality control, Marketing |
| Livestock Production and Management | General management, Breeding, Feeding, Reproduction, Shelter, Health management, Production and management of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and other animals, Wildlife management, Forage production and conservation, Economics and marketing of livestock and poultry products |
| Poultry Science | Poultry genetics and breeding, Poultry nutrition, Avian physiology, Poultry products technology, Poultry management, Economics and marketing, Poultry health management |
| Veterinary Medicine | General medicine, Diagnosis of diseases, Gastroenterology, Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, Urinary nervous musculoskeletal and integumentary disorders, Production and deficiency diseases, Toxicities, Infectious diseases, Parasitic and poultry diseases, Jurisprudence and ethics, Therapeutic approaches, Disease prevention and control, Diseases of zoo, lab and wild animals |
| Veterinary Microbiology | General bacteriology, Systematic bacteriology, General virology, Systematic virology, Mycology, Immunology, Molecular cell biology |
| Veterinary Parasitology | Helminthology, Entomology, Clinical parasitology, Parasitic zoonoses, Management of livestock parasitism, Immunoparasitology, Diagnostic parasitology |
| Veterinary Pathology | Introduction and etiology, Haemodynamic derangements, Degeneration and necrosis, Inflammation and healing, Immunopathology, Genetic diseases, Oncology, Postmortem diagnosis, Histopathology, Clinical pathology, Systematic and avian pathology, Nutritional and production pathology, Toxicological pathology, Diseases of lab and wild animals |
| Veterinary Pharmacology | General pharmacology, Drugs acting on central and autonomic nervous system, Drugs affecting digestive and urogenital systems, Endocrine pharmacology, Autacoids, Chemotherapy, Toxicology, Ecotoxicology, Miscellaneous pharmacology |
| Veterinary Public Health | Veterinary public health principles, Milk and meat hygiene, Food-borne infections and intoxications, Zoonoses, Environmental hygiene, Epidemiology, Experimental animal medicine, Health education, Legislation and standards, Microbiology in public health |
| Veterinary Surgery | General surgery, Anaesthesia, Radiology, Orthopaedics and lameness, Head and neck surgery, Thoracic surgery, Abdominal and pelvic surgery |
| Aquaculture | Aquaculture systems, Species selection, Broodstock development and management, Farm design, Construction and operational management |
| Fisheries Resources | Fisheries resources, Fish biology, Aquatic environment, Fisheries management, Fishing technology, Economics and marketing, Fisheries livelihood |
| Fish Processing Technology | Craft technology, Gear technology, Process biochemistry, Fish processing technology, Microbiology, Quality management and certification, Fishery engineering, Economics and marketing |
| Fish Nutrition | Principles of fish nutrition, Nutritional physiology, Feed formulation and feed technology, Feeding management, Nutrition and fish health, Nutrigenomics |
| Fish Health | Introduction to fish health and pathology, Fish diseases, Aquatic environment and fish health, Disease diagnosis, Defence systems and tumours, Disease prevention and control |
| Fish Genetics & Breeding | Principles of fish genetics and breeding, Population and quantitative genetics, Genetic tools for aquaculture, Breeding of fish and shellfish, Conservation, Bioinformatics |
| Agricultural Chemicals | General chemistry, Chromatography and spectroscopic techniques, Chemistry of natural products, Naturally occurring insecticides, Synthetic insecticides fungicides nematicides and rodenticides, Herbicides and plant growth regulators, Agrochemical formulations, Pesticide residues and their dynamics in the environment, Agrochemicals regulation and quality control, Natural resource management, Environmental pollution implications and remediation, Data analysis |
| Agricultural Meteorology | General climatology, Agricultural climatology, Micro-meteorology, Evapotranspiration, Crop weather modelling, Weather forecasting for agriculture |
| Agroforestry | Forestry policies and acts, Agroforestry Social Forestry Community Forestry and Farm Forestry, Plant management, Extent and causes of land denudation, Forest mensuration, Silviculture, Seed collection processing and storage, Forest management, Tree improvement, Global overview of agroforestry, Measurement of trees and stand, Climate change, Statistics |
| Agronomy | Crop ecology and geography, Weed management, Soil fertility and fertilizer use, Dryland agronomy, Crop production in problem soils, Crop production, Agricultural statistics, Sustainable land use systems, Basics of soil and water, Soil-water relationship, Plant-water relationship, Irrigation water management, Management of problematic soils and water |
| Environmental Science | Definition and scope of environmental science, Basic ecological concepts, Biodiversity concepts, Composition of air, Soil and water pollution, Climate change, Energy consumption in urban and rural India, Natural resources of India, Frequency distribution mean median mode and standard deviation |
| Soil Science | Pedology, Soil physics, Soil chemistry, Soil fertility, Soil microbiology, Statistics |
| Agri-Business Management | General management, Business accounting and financial management, Marketing management, Management economics and farm management, Quantitative techniques, Strategic management and entrepreneurship |
| Agricultural Economics | Economic theory, Agricultural development and policy, Natural resource and production economics, Agricultural finance and project management, Agricultural marketing and price analysis, Operations research methods |
| Agricultural Extension | Fundamentals of extension and communication, Extension methods and farm journalism, Information and communication technologies, Training and human resource development, Research methodology in extension education, Programme planning evaluation diffusion and adoption of innovations, Extension management, Entrepreneurial development, Developmental strategies and issues in extension, Gender sensitization and empowerment |
| Agricultural Statistics & Informatics | Mathematical methods in statistics, Probability and mathematical statistics, Statistical inference, Applied multivariate analysis, Design of experiments, Sample surveys, Statistical genetics, Applied regression analysis, Optimization techniques and soft computing |
| Home Science | Human nutrition health and interventions, Food science and processing technologies, Textile science fashion designing and garment production, Human development and family dynamics, Family resource management and consumer science, Home science extension and communication methods |
| Farm Machinery and Power | Farm mechanization and equipment, Farm machinery design, Farm machinery testing evaluation and management, Engines and tractor systems, Ergonomics and safety, Soil dynamics in tillage and traction, Energy in agriculture, Manufacturing technology, Instrumentation and measurement techniques |
| Computer Application & IT | Computer organization and architecture, Programming languages and data structures, Software engineering, Working and operating systems, Compiler construction, Database management systems, Computer graphics, Artificial intelligence and soft computing, Statistical modelling and simulation, Bioinformatics |
| Land and Water Management Engineering | Ground water development wells and pumps, Open channel hydraulics, Soil plant water and atmosphere relationship, Hydrology and soil and water conservation, Watershed management, Irrigation water management, Management of degraded waterlogged and other problematic soils and water |
| Bioinformatics | Concepts in computing, Programming languages, Database systems and biological databases, Mathematics and statistics, Biochemistry and molecular biology, Genomics and proteomics, Analytic bioinformatics, Molecular modelling, Algorithms and data structures in bioinformatics |
| Food Technology | Introductory food technology, Technology of foods of plant origin, Technology of foods of animal origin, Food quality management, Food engineering packaging and labelling, Food microbiology and biotechnology, Flavour chemistry technology, Consumer sciences food product development and health foods |
| Agricultural Process Engineering | Heat and mass transfer, Farm structures and farmstead planning, Storage engineering, Material handling packaging and transport, Post-harvest operations, Processing technology and equipment design, Engineering properties and quality of bio-materials, Agri-project planning and management, Aquaculture processing technology and structures design, Dairy engineering instrumentation and process control |
| Veterinary Anatomy | Gross anatomy, Micro anatomy, Developmental anatomy |
ASRB Exam Pattern 2026 has been structured into Prelims, Mains, and Interview for ASRB ARS, SMS, and STO exam. For ASRB NET exam, there is only one written test. For ARS, SMS, and STO streams, Prelims is a common exam.
| Description | Max. Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Prelims (CBT) for ARS-2026 (Qualifying) | 150 | 2 hours |
| Mains (Descriptive) for ARS-2026 | 300 | 3 hours |
| Personal Interview | 45 | – |
To qualify ASRB Prelims 2026, candidates must achieve the category-wise minimum aggregate marks.
For ASRB NET 2026
The minimum qualifying marks is:
| Category | Percentage | Minimum Marks (Out of 150) |
|---|---|---|
| Unreserved | 50% | 75 |
| EWS / OBC | 45% | 67.5 |
| SC / ST / PwBD | 40% | 60 |
For ASRB ARS/STO/SMS 2026
The minimum qualifying marks is:
| Category of candidate | Minimum qualifying marks |
|---|---|
| Un-reserved (UR) | 67.5 (45%) |
| EWS/ OBC | 60.0 (40%) |
| SC/ST/ PwBD | 52.5 (35%) |
After passing ASRB NET exam, qualified candidates receive a digital NET certificate. This certificate grants eligibility to apply for Lecturer or Assistant Professor positions at State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and other recognized agricultural institutions. But ASRB NET certificate alone does not guarantee selection. Appointing universities still verify fulfillment of all eligibility criteria before recruitment.
Ques: Is ASRB syllabus based on a Master’s degree level?
Ans: Yes. ASRB syllabus is designed at the Master’s degree level, assessing subject depth, analytical ability, and applied understanding in agriculture and allied sciences relevant to the selected discipline.
Ques: Can candidates change their selected discipline after submitting ASRB application form?
Ans: No. Once a candidate selects a discipline while applying, it cannot be changed later. Preparation must strictly follow the chosen syllabus outlined by ASRB for NET/ARS/SMS/STO exams.
Ques: Is ASRB syllabus the same for both Prelims and Mains exams?
Ans: Yes, the same syllabus applies to both Prelims (objective) and Mains (descriptive) stages of ARS/SMS/STO exams, though the question format and difficulty level vary by stage.
Ques: Does ASRB syllabus include both theoretical and applied topics?
Ans: Yes. The syllabus includes both core and applied concepts, covering recent advances in biotechnology, climate change, management, statistics, and innovations across agricultural and allied science disciplines.
Ques: Does ASRB NET exam have a specific syllabus for each discipline?
Ans: Yes. Each discipline in ASRB NET exam has its own detailed syllabus. Candidates must prepare according to their chosen subject to perform well in the exam.
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