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ICAR AIEEA-PG Agricultural Structures & Environmental Control: practice questions

ICAR AIEEA-PG — Agricultural Engineering & Technology (Major Subject Group 10) · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
52written to this exam in this subject
13syllabus units

What this subject covers

Planning a farmstead and designing its buildings, stores and animal houses, including the ventilation that keeps animals healthy.

In the exams: NCEES PE Facilities & Structures 12–18 questions; PRC ABE structures, environment and bioprocess (36%); ICAR AIEEA-PG Unit VI (farmstead planning, heating and cooling load); TNPSC Unit V

What ICAR AIEEA-PG asks from it

ICAR AIEEA-PG — Agricultural Engineering & Technology

Unit VI names farmstead planning and heating and cooling load: expect recall of layout rules, space norms, house orientation, and one-step ventilation or heat-loss calculations under a minute each.

Where the 52 questions fall

How our questions for ICAR AIEEA-PG spread across the units of Agricultural Structures & Environmental Control. Difficulty: 28 easy, 21 medium, 3 hard.

Ventilation rate from heat and moisture balance9
Rural houses and threshing floors6
Farmstead planning5
Rat-proof godowns5
Design loads: dead, live, wind, snow and grain4
Dairy cattle housing4
Poultry housing3
Swine housing3
Space requirements for livestock3
Farm roads and fencing3
Structural design of bins and silos3
Post-frame buildings2
Manure storage structures2

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Farmstead planning · easy

Which site is generally preferred for a new farmstead?

  1. A low hollow sheltered from wind, where cool moist air settles and keeps the buildings cool
  2. A site on deep loose fill so that foundations can be excavated quickly and cheaply
  3. An elevated, well-drained site with firm soil, water and all-weather road access
  4. A site far from any public road, so that traffic never reaches the farmstead at all
Answer and working

C. An elevated, well-drained site with firm soil, water and all-weather road access

Elevation and good drainage keep water away from buildings, firm soil carries foundations, and an all-weather road is needed for feed, milk and produce trucks. Hollows collect cold air, damp and flood water; loose fill settles; a farm without road access cannot market its produce.

Further reading: MidWest Plan Service, Structures and Environment Handbook (MWPS-1)

2 · Farmstead planning · medium

Why is the long axis of an animal house in a hot tropical climate usually laid east-west?

  1. The long walls face north and south and so get little low morning and evening sun
  2. The prevailing wind in all tropical countries blows from east to west along the house
  3. An east-west house receives the maximum solar heat for drying the litter and floors
  4. Rain in the tropics always falls from the south, so the gable ends stay dry this way
Answer and working

A. The long walls face north and south and so get little low morning and evening sun

With an east-west axis only the short gable walls face the low morning and afternoon sun, and roof overhangs shade the long walls from the high midday sun. Wind direction varies by site and is not universally east-west, and extra solar heat is the opposite of what a hot-climate house needs.

Further reading: Michael and Ojha, Principles of Agricultural Engineering Vol. I

3 · Dairy cattle housing · medium

Free stalls for large-breed dairy cows are typically about what size?

  1. About 1.1–1.25 m wide and 2.1–2.7 m long
  2. About 0.6–0.7 m wide and 1.2–1.5 m long
  3. About 2.0–2.5 m wide and 4.0–4.5 m long
  4. About 1.5–1.8 m wide and 1.2–1.5 m long
Answer and working

A. About 1.1–1.25 m wide and 2.1–2.7 m long

A large cow needs roughly 1.1–1.25 m of width and 2.1–2.7 m of length depending on whether lunge space is shared. 0.6–0.7 m is a sow crate width; 2.0–2.5 m wide stalls let cows turn round and soil the bed; a stall shorter than it is wide cannot hold a lying cow.

Further reading: MWPS-7 Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment

4 · Swine housing · medium

What is the main purpose of all-in, all-out management by room in a pig unit?

  1. To empty, clean and dry each room between batches and break disease cycles
  2. To keep pigs of all ages together so older pigs teach younger ones to eat
  3. To let pigs move freely between rooms so each finds its preferred temperature
  4. To allow continuous filling so that rooms are never empty or unprofitable
Answer and working

A. To empty, clean and dry each room between batches and break disease cycles

Moving whole batches in and out together lets each room be cleaned and rested, which breaks the transfer of pathogens from older to younger pigs. Mixing ages and continuous flow are exactly what all-in, all-out avoids.

Further reading: MWPS-8

5 · Ventilation rate from heat and moisture balance · easy

A room 30 m × 12 m × 3.5 m is ventilated at 4.2 m³/s. How many air changes per hour is this?

  1. 12
  2. 0.2
  3. 720
  4. 1.0
Answer and working

A. 12

Volume = 1260 m³; airflow = 4.2 × 3600 = 15,120 m³/h; ACH = 15,120/1260 = 12. 0.2 uses m³/min; 720 multiplies by 60 again; 1.0 would mean only 0.35 m³/s (inverting the ratio gives 0.083).

Further reading: Albright, Environment Control for Animals and Plants

6 · Rural houses and threshing floors · medium

Paddy of bulk density 580 kg/m³ is to be spread 5 cm deep for sun drying on a threshing floor. What floor area does 2 t need (excluding working space)?

  1. 0.69 m²
  2. 69 m²
  3. 3.4 m²
  4. 58 m²
Answer and working

B. 69 m²

Volume = 2000/580 = 3.45 m³; area = 3.45/0.05 = 69 m². 0.69 m² uses 5 instead of 0.05 m; 3.4 m² is only the volume; 58 m² multiplies the quantities.

Further reading: Michael and Ojha, Principles of Agricultural Engineering Vol. I

7 · Rural houses and threshing floors · medium

What is the main economy of rat-trap bond brickwork in low-cost rural houses?

  1. Bricks laid on edge leave an internal cavity, saving bricks and mortar
  2. Bricks are laid without any mortar, so walls can be dismantled later
  3. The bond uses half-bricks only, using broken bricks from the kiln
  4. It traps rats inside the wall cavity, so no rodent control is needed
Answer and working

A. Bricks laid on edge leave an internal cavity, saving bricks and mortar

Rat-trap bond lays bricks on edge with a cavity between the leaves, cutting the number of bricks and the mortar and improving insulation. It still uses mortar, uses whole bricks, and has nothing to do with catching rats despite its name.

Further reading: FAO Rural Structures in the Tropics

8 · Manure storage structures · easy

Why is freeboard provided in a manure storage structure?

  1. As extra storage volume to be filled during the wettest month of the year
  2. As the depth of sludge that settles permanently on the floor of the store
  3. As space for the agitator motor and gearbox to sit inside the storage tank
  4. As a safety margin against overtopping, not counted as storage volume
Answer and working

D. As a safety margin against overtopping, not counted as storage volume

Freeboard is the margin between the maximum operating level and the top of the wall or bank, protecting against waves, extreme storms and overtopping; it is never planned as storage. Sludge accumulation is a separate allowance.

Further reading: USDA NRCS AWMFH

9 · Ventilation rate from heat and moisture balance · medium

How does the split of an animal's heat production between sensible and latent heat change as air temperature rises?

  1. The sensible share rises and the latent share falls
  2. Both shares stay fixed at all temperatures
  3. Latent heat disappears above 25 °C
  4. The latent share rises and the sensible share falls
Answer and working

D. The latent share rises and the sensible share falls

As air temperature approaches body temperature, the temperature difference for convection and radiation shrinks, so the animal relies more on evaporation, raising the latent share. Latent loss does not disappear; it becomes the main route.

Further reading: Albright, Environment Control for Animals and Plants

10 · Design loads: dead, live, wind, snow and grain · medium

Why do many codes allow lower design wind or snow loads for some farm buildings than for houses?

  1. They class low-occupancy buildings in a lower importance or risk category
  2. Farm buildings are always sited in sheltered valleys where wind is negligible
  3. Animals inside the building add weight that resists the wind and snow loads
  4. Snow never settles on the roofs of unheated farm buildings in any climate
Answer and working

A. They class low-occupancy buildings in a lower importance or risk category

Low-occupancy agricultural buildings often take a lower importance class, which reduces design loads; whether and how much depends on the governing code. Unheated buildings actually keep more snow, and animals are not counted as resisting load.

Further reading: ASCE 7; EN 1990 national annexes

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Read the subject

Agricultural Structures & Environmental ControlThe full study manual, free ICAR AIEEA-PGFormat, sections and how it has changed

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