ICAR ABM Important Topics: Units 1, 2, 3, 4 & 9 Quick Revision Guide

Mastering Agri-Business: Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet for ICAR ABM (Units 1-4 & 9)

This guide covers key orders, classifications, and sequences from Units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9. Get ready to ace your exams with these concise, fun, and visually organized notes!

Unit I: Soils, Crops, Nutrients & Agriculture

Taxonomy Mnemonic: "King Philip Came Over For Good Soup"
Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species

Plant Evolution: Algae < Bryophyta < Pteridophyta < Gymnosperms < Angiosperms

Soil Horizons (Top to Bottom):

• O – Organic Matter
• A – Topsoil
• E – Eluviation
• B – Subsoil
• C – Parent Material
• R – Rock/Bedrock

Major Soil Types of India (Prevalence Order): Alluvial → Black → Red & Yellow → Laterite → Arid → Saline & Alkaline → Peaty → Forest

Plant Nutrients:
Macronutrients: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S
Micronutrients: Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, B, Mo, Cl, Ni

Nutrient Mobility in Plants:
Mobile: N, P, K, Mg, Cl, Mo → Symptoms appear on **older leaves first**
Immobile: Ca, B, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn → Symptoms appear on **younger leaves first**

Crop Production Sequence (General Practices): Land Prep → Seed Selection → Sowing → Nutrient → Water → Weed → Pest → Harvest → Post-Harvest

Crop Seasons (Indian Context):

• Kharif (Monsoon/Rainy, June-Oct): Rice, Maize, Cotton
• Rabi (Winter, Oct-Mar): Wheat, Mustard
• Zaid (Summer, Apr-June): Watermelon, Muskmelon

Crop Classification by Use/Botanical Type:

• Cereals: Rice, Wheat
• Pulses/Legumes: Chickpea, Lentil
• Oilseeds: Mustard, Groundnut
• Fiber Crops: Cotton, Jute
• Sugar Crops: Sugarcane
• Tuber Crops: Potato
• Plantation Crops: Tea, Coffee

Major Agricultural Pest Orders: Hemiptera (Sucking), Lepidoptera (Chewing Larvae), Coleoptera (Beetles), Orthoptera (Grasshoppers), Thysanoptera (Rasping-Sucking), Acarina (Mites), Nematoda (Root-knot)

Major Crop Diseases (by Causal Agent): Fungal (Rust), Bacterial (Blight), Viral (Mosaic), Nutritional (Khaira, Blossom end rot)

Weed Classification by Life Cycle: Annual → Biennial → Perennial

Important Agricultural Revolutions (Key Associations):

• Green 🌾: Wheat, Rice production (mid-1960s)
• White 🥛: Dairy production (Operation Flood - 1970)
• Yellow 🌻: Oilseeds production (late 1980s)
• Blue 🐟: Fish production
• Pink 🦐: Meat, Poultry, Pharmaceuticals
• Golden 🍯: Horticulture & Honey (1991-2003)
• Silver 🥚: Egg production
• Red 🍅: Meat & Tomato production

India’s Global Ranks in Agricultural Production:

• 1st Rank: Milk, Pulses, Mango, Banana, Papaya, Spices, Castor Seed, Onion.
• 2nd Rank: Rice, Wheat, Sugarcane, Cotton, Tea, Potato, Fish, Tobacco, Cashew Nut.

Minimum Support Price (MSP) Highlights (2024–25/2025–26):

• Paddy (Common): ₹2300 per quintal
• Wheat: ₹2400 per quintal
• Moong: ₹8680 per quintal
• Rapeseed & Mustard: ₹5990 per quintal
• Sugarcane (FRP): ₹340 per quintal

Unit II: Farm Machinery & Post-Harvest Technology

Sources of Energy on Farms (Evolutionary Order): Human → Animal → Mechanical → Electrical → Renewable

Tillage Operations Sequence: Primary (Ploughing) → Secondary (Harrowing) → Seedbed Preparation

Tractor Mechanisms (Key Functions): Draft (Pulling) → Power Take-Off (PTO - Driving Rotary) → Hydraulic System (Lifting/Lowering)

Drip Irrigation Components (Typical Flow): Water Source → Pump → Filters → Main Line → Submainline → Laterals → Drippers/Emitters

Canning Process Sequence (Food Processing): Preparation → Blanching → Filling → Exhausting → Sealing → Processing/Sterilization → Cooling → Labeling & Storage

Types of Seeds (Genetic Purity Order, Highest to Lowest): Breeder Seed → Foundation Seed → Certified Seed → Truthfully Labeled Seed

Post-Harvest Operations (General Sequence): Harvesting → Threshing → Winnowing → Cleaning → Drying → Grading → Storage → Processing → Packaging → Marketing

Unit III: Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Milk Processing Sequence: Filtration/Clarification → Standardization → Pasteurization → Homogenization → Cooling → Packaging

Pregnancy Diagnosis in Cattle (Common Sequence): Observation → Rectal Palpation → Ultrasound → Hormone Test

Disease Transmission Methods (General Categories): Direct Contact → Indirect Contact → Vector-borne → Airborne

Gestation Periods (Approximate Order, Shorter to Longer): Pig (114 days) < Sheep/Goat (150 days) < Cattle (280-285 days) < Buffalo (300-310 days) < Horse (330-340 days)

Milk Constituents (General Order of Quantity): Water > Lactose > Fat > Protein > Minerals

Indian Cattle Breeds (Key Classifications):

• Dairy Breeds: Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir.
• Dual Purpose Breeds: Haryana, Ongole.
• Draught Breeds: Hallikar, Amritmahal.

Unit IV: Food & Resource Management

Child Development Stages (Chronological): Infancy → Early Childhood → Middle Childhood → Adolescence → Adulthood

Home Management Process: Planning → Organizing → Implementing → Evaluating

Food Preservation Principles (Key Methods):

• Temperature Control: Refrigeration, Freezing, Heating (Canning, Pasteurization).
• Moisture Removal: Drying, Dehydration.
• Chemical/Biological: Salting, Sugaring, Acidification, Fermentation.

Unit IX: Managerial Economics, Marketing & Institutions

Functions of Management (POSDCORB - Luther Gulick): Planning, Organizing, Staffing → Directing → Coordinating → Reporting → Budgeting

Project Management Phases (Life Cycle): Identification → Appraisal → Formulation → Implementation → Monitoring → Evaluation

Marketing Mix:

• 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion.
• 7 Ps: 4 Ps + People, Process, Physical Evidence.

Market Structures (Order of Increasing Competition/Number of Firms): Monopoly < Oligopoly < Monopolistic Competition < Perfect Competition

Economic Systems (General Order of State Control): Traditional → Command → Mixed → Market

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Bottom to Top): Physiological → Safety → Love/Belonging → Esteem → Self-Actualization

Financial Ratios (Key Categories): Liquidity Ratios → Leverage Ratios → Profitability Ratios → Activity Ratios

Strategic Management Process: Environmental Analysis → Strategy Formulation → Strategy Implementation → Strategy Evaluation

WTO Agreements (Key Relevance to Agriculture/Trade):

• AoA: Agreement on Agriculture (Aims to reform agricultural trade by creating a fairer and more market-oriented system; covers market access, domestic support, and export subsidies).
• TRIPS: Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Establishes minimum standards for intellectual property rights, important for agricultural innovations and seed patents).
• TRIMS: Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (Prohibits certain investment measures that restrict trade, relevant for foreign investment in the agri-food sector).
• GATS: General Agreement on Trade in Services (Extends multilateral trading rules to the services sector, including services related to agriculture like warehousing, logistics, and consultancy).
• TBT: Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (Aims to ensure that technical regulations and standards, including packaging, marking, and labeling requirements, do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade).
• SPS: Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (Deals with food safety and animal/plant health regulations, ensuring measures protect health without being disguised restrictions on trade).

Forms of Business Ownership (Order of Increasing Complexity/Liability): Sole Proprietorship → Partnership → Cooperative → Private Limited Company → Public Limited Company

Indian Agricultural Institutions/Bodies (Hierarchical/Categorical):

• Apex Body: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• Types of ICAR Institutes: National Research Institutes, National Bureaus, Project Directorates, National Research Centres.
• Agricultural Universities: State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Deemed Universities, Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs).
• Extension System: ICAR Institutes → SAUs/KVKs → State Departments of Agriculture → Farmers.

🧠 Memory Tip! Use mnemonics, diagrams, and flashcards. Explain concepts aloud. Visualize processes for better recall.