Computer-based, 2 hours, 120 questions in three parts (A general, B core group, C specialised subject), +4/−1, as recorded from the 2025–2026 bulletins in the veterinary track. The dairy subject syllabi below were read directly.
Sections
Subject 34 Dairy Chemistry (10 units): milk constituents and physical properties; milk proteins and enzymes; milk lipids and oxidation; adulteration and analytical methods; cream, butter and ghee chemistry; heat stability, concentrated and dried milks, khoa, chhana, paneer; cheese and fermented milk chemistry; ice cream; quality, standards (ISO, IDF, Codex, AOAC, BIS, FSSAI), residues, traceability; instrumental analysis
Subject 36 Dairy Microbiology (7 units): general microbiology; microbial genetics and rDNA; microbiological quality of milk; microbiology of processed foods; starter cultures and probiotics; quality assurance and rapid methods; fermentation technology
Subject 37 Dairy Technology (9 units): technology of milk and milk products; dairy food packaging; advances in dairy processing (drying, water activity, hurdle, non-thermal, cleaning); membrane processing; rheology; functional foods and new product development; biotechnology for dairy applications; emulsions, foams and gels; legal and quality aspects
Subject 38 Dairy Engineering (7 units): fluid mechanics, rheology and freezing; evaporation and drying; water activity, permeability, membranes and microwave heating; thermal engineering and heat exchangers; process equipment and pressure vessel design; refrigeration and cold storage; instrumentation and process control
Related: subject 35a Food Processing Technology and 35b Food Safety & Quality (dairy appears in both)
Over the years
Syllabus PDF read on 3 Oct 2026. Leads to PhD admission at ICAR-NDRI (which offers PhDs in all four dairy disciplines, per its official PhD page) and other agricultural universities, with the JRF/SRF fellowship. The core-group number that the dairy subjects fall under in Part B was not confirmed for 2026; check the bulletin.
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. Which region is the main home of camel dairying?
The Tibetan plateau, the Himalaya and the Mongolian steppe
The Horn of Africa, the Sahel and the Arabian Peninsula
The Mediterranean basin from Spain to Greece and Turkey
The humid tropics of South-East Asia and the Pacific islands
Answer and working
B. The Horn of Africa, the Sahel and the Arabian Peninsula
Camel milk sustains pastoral peoples in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Arabia. The Tibetan plateau and Mongolia are yak country, and the Mediterranean is the centre of sheep and goat dairying.
Dairy Industry & Milk Production Systems · World milk production by region and species: cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, camel, yak
2. A system of three linear equations has coefficient matrix of rank 2 and augmented matrix of rank 3. What can be concluded?
The system has a unique solution found by Cramer's rule
The system is inconsistent and has no solution
The system has infinitely many solutions with one free variable
The system has exactly two solutions, one per independent row
Answer and working
B. The system is inconsistent and has no solution
A solution exists only if rank(A) = rank([A|B]). Here they differ, so the equations contradict each other. Infinitely many solutions would need equal ranks (2 = 2) below the number of unknowns; linear systems never have exactly two solutions.
Mathematics & Statistics for Dairy Science · Matrices and linear equations
3. Milk triacylglycerols separate as globules instead of dissolving in the serum mainly because of:
Strong covalent links between fat molecules that form during milk secretion
Electrostatic attraction between positively charged fat molecules
The hydrophobic effect
The high density of milk fat compared with the aqueous phase
Answer and working
C. The hydrophobic effect
Non-polar molecules cannot hydrogen-bond with water, so the system minimises contact by clustering them. Milk fat is less dense than serum, which is why cream rises, but density does not explain insolubility.
Biochemistry for Dairy Science · Water, pH and buffers
4. Pure starter cultures replaced spontaneous souring of cream for butter making in northern Europe around:
1790
1890
1950
1840
Answer and working
B. 1890
Storch in Denmark and Weigmann in Germany introduced pure cultures for cream ripening around 1890, after pure-culture methods became available.
General Microbiology · History and scope of microbiology
5. On a P&ID of a HTST pasteuriser, which element must be shown immediately after the holding tube to protect public health?
A flow transmitter on the raw-milk balance tank
A pressure gauge on the hot-water circuit
A temperature sensor controlling a flow-diversion valve
A level switch on the pasteurised-milk storage tank
Answer and working
C. A temperature sensor controlling a flow-diversion valve
If the milk leaving the holding tube is below the legal temperature, the flow-diversion valve returns it to the balance tank. Balance-tank level and hot-water pressure do not directly prove the heat treatment.
Engineering Fundamentals for Dairy Technologists · Engineering drawing and reading plant drawings
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