ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Agricultural Engineering subjects 38–43 · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Agricultural Engineering subjects 38–43 is a PhD, fellowship and lectureship exam run by National Testing Agency for ICAR, for candidates in India. LAN-based computer test, 2 hours, 120 MCQs: 20 Part A (general knowledge and reasoning), 50 Part B (core group), 50 Part C (specialisation); four options.
Source: icar.org.in.
Checked against the exam body's published information. Formats and fees change; confirm the current edition there before you book.
Optimum machine size, timeliness cost modelling, replacement theory, system selection and mechanisation policy analysis.
Choosing, sizing, costing and replacing machines, and running a custom hiring centre that pays.
Our 25 ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF questions in this subject: 0 easy, 8 medium, 17 hard, across 11 units.
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
These 10 were written to ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF and are not shown on any other exam's page.
A combine with a 4.2 m header is driven at 5 km/h. Because of overlap only 95 % of the header width is used, and turning and unloading take 20 % of total field time. What is its effective field capacity?
B. 1.60 ha/h
Effective width = 4.2 × 0.95 = 3.99 m; capacity while cutting = 5 × 3.99 / 10 = 1.995 ha/h; productive time is 80 % of field time, so effective capacity = 1.995 × 0.8 = 1.60 ha/h (field efficiency 76 %). 2.10 is theoretical; 1.68 ignores overlap; 1.99 ignores lost time.
Wheat must be sown on 50 ha with a drill of 1.25 ha/h effective capacity, working 8 h per day; 75 % of days are workable. Yield falls by 0.8 % of 5 t/ha for each day of delay, and grain is worth 20,000 per tonne. If sowing starts on the optimum date, what is the timeliness cost?
A. 133,333
Days needed D = 50 / (1.25 × 8 × 0.75) = 6.667. Starting at the optimum, the average delay is D/2, so cost = K × A × Y × V × D / 2 = 0.008 × 50 × 5 × 20,000 × 6.667 / 2 = 133,333. Using z = 4 (operation centred on the optimum) gives 66,667; ignoring workable-day probability gives 100,000. 266,667 forgets to halve the delay (0.008 × 50 × 5 × 20,000 × 6.667).
In the simple linear timeliness model, if an operation of fixed duration is centred on the optimum date instead of starting on it, the timeliness cost:
B. Halves, because the average deviation falls from D/2 to D/4
Starting at the optimum, work spans 0 to D days late, average D/2. Centred, it spans −D/2 to +D/2, average absolute deviation D/4, so the loss halves. It is not zero, because every day away from the optimum—early or late—costs yield.
For the same $80,000 tractor (RF1 = 0.007, RF2 = 2.0, illustrative), what repair and maintenance cost is expected for the year in which it goes from 3,000 to 4,000 h?
A. $3,920
Annual cost = accumulated at 4,000 h − accumulated at 3,000 h = 80,000 × 0.007 × (16 − 9) = 3,920. 8,960 is the accumulated total since new, not the cost for that year. 5,040 is the accumulated cost at 3,000 h (80,000 × 0.007 × 9); 560 squares the difference in hours instead of differencing the squares (80,000 × 0.007 × 1²).
A tractor costs 800,000 and is expected to be worth 80,000 after 10 years. What fixed declining-balance rate reduces the book value exactly to the salvage value at the end of the life?
A. 20.6 %
(1 − r)¹⁰ = S/P = 0.1, so r = 1 − 0.1^0.1 = 0.2057 = 20.6 %. 20 % is the double-declining rate (2/L), which does not end at S; 10 % is S/P; 9 % is the straight-line charge as a share of price.
For the same reaper, hired machines usually arrive late, causing a timeliness loss worth 300 per hectare. Including this loss, what is the new break-even area?
D. 37.5 ha
The effective hire cost is 1,600 + 300 = 1,900 per hectare. Break-even = 45,000/(1,900 − 700) = 37.5 ha. Subtracting the loss from the rate (1,300) gives 75 ha, the wrong direction: late hire makes owning more attractive, so break-even falls. 23.7 ha divides by the effective hire cost alone (45,000/1,900).
An owner's variable cost for an operation is 1,200 per hectare, and custom operators charge 1,100 per hectare including operator and fuel. What can be concluded, ignoring timeliness and quality?
B. Ownership never pays
Break-even x* = FC/(R − VC) is negative when R < VC: every hectare costs more to run than to hire, so owning loses more as use grows. Only non-cost factors (timeliness, availability, quality) could justify ownership.
In the ASABE draft equation D = F_i [A + B S + C S²] W T, which factor adjusts the draft for soil texture?
D. F_i
F_i is the soil-texture adjustment factor (fine, medium, coarse soils). A, B and C are machine-specific constants; T is tillage depth and W width.
A CHC invests 1,200,000 and expects net inflows of 300,000 a year for 6 years plus a salvage of 150,000 at the end of year 6. At 10 % discount rate, what is the net present value?
A. 191,249
PV of inflows = 300,000 × (P/A,10 %,6) = 300,000 × 4.3553 = 1,306,578; PV of salvage = 150,000 × 0.5645 = 84,671; NPV = 191,249. Undiscounted gives 750,000; omitting salvage gives 106,578; 1,391,249 is the present value of inflows before subtracting the investment.
The FAO and African Union framework for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (2018) emphasises:
C. Private-sector-led hire services and appropriate, sustainable mechanisation
The framework draws on the poor record of earlier state tractor-hire schemes and favours private service providers, appropriate technology and environmental sustainability.
This plan follows where our questions actually fall, so the time goes where the marks are likely to be. It is our reading of the syllabus, not the exam body's weighting.
Read the manual chapters for these first and do every worked question you can find on them.
Aim for one sitting per unit, then mixed questions across them.
Learn the definitions, classifications and standard numbers; these units are more often recalled than worked.
Come back to these after a first pass, untimed, and read every explanation, including for the options you rejected.
Last updated · How Laisha writes and checks its pages · Report a mistake
US$10 a month · one price worldwide · cancel any time
| Free | Smarter | |
|---|---|---|
| Grow guides, pest pages, articles | Read all | Read all |
| Ask Laisha | 5 a day | Up to 1,000 a month |
| Exam practice | The sample on each page | Every question, timed papers |
| Crop calendar and pest alerts | — | For your own fields |
| Calculators and tools | — | All |
| Uploads and reports | — | 100 a month, real files |
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.