Nepal Engineering Council Registration Exam — Agricultural Engineering · Nepal · Nepal Engineering Council
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersEnough agronomy to design for the crop: sowing geometry for planters, application rates for sprayers, moisture at harvest.
In the exams: Allied agricultural sciences in PRC ABE; core in the ICAR 6th Deans' Committee B.Tech
How our questions for Nepal Engineering Council Registration Exam spread across the units of Crop Production & Protection for Engineers. Difficulty: 25 easy, 42 medium, 19 hard.
| Seed rate and sowing geometry | 18 | |
| Fertilisers and manures | 18 | |
| Crop classification and seasons | 14 | |
| Cropping systems | 14 | |
| Harvest index and harvest moisture | 13 | |
| Farming-based livelihood systems | 9 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
On the Zadoks decimal scale for cereals, the principal stage numbered in the 60s describes:
D. Anthesis
Zadoks principal stages: 2x tillering, 3x stem elongation, 4x booting, 5x ear emergence, 6x anthesis (flowering), 7x milk, 8x dough, 9x ripening.
Further reading: Zadoks, Chang and Konzak (1974)
According to FAO, which set of three principles defines conservation agriculture?
C. Minimum soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover and crop species diversification
FAO's three linked principles are continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic cover and diversification. Deep ploughing and residue burial are the opposite of minimum disturbance; removing all residue breaks the soil-cover principle and monoculture the diversification principle; bunds and terraces are soil conservation structures, not the definition of CA.
Further reading: FAO Conservation Agriculture
Which sowing method raises seedlings in a nursery and then moves them to the main field?
B. Transplanting
Transplanting uses nursery-raised seedlings, as for most Asian rice and many vegetables. Dibbling places seeds in holes; drilling meters seed into rows; broadcasting scatters seed over the surface.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
Why are maize and other row crops usually planted in rectangular geometry (wide rows, close in-row spacing) instead of square geometry with the same plant population?
D. Wide rows leave room for tractor wheels and inter-row cultivators and match the planter toolbar
Rectangular geometry is a compromise for machinery: tractor tracks, cultivators and row headers need wide inter-rows. Square geometry actually gives each plant the most equal area and light; any population can be laid out square; and intra-row competition does not raise harvest index.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
A precision planter is set for 80,000 seeds/ha in 75 cm rows. What in-row seed spacing does this require?
A. 16.7 cm
Seeds per m² = 8.0. Seeds per metre of row = 8.0 × 0.75 = 6.0, so spacing = 1 ÷ 6.0 = 16.7 cm. 12.5 cm treats seeds per m² as seeds per metre of row; 9.4 cm divides by the row width instead of multiplying; 1.67 cm is a factor-of-ten slip in the metre-to-centimetre step.
Further reading: Srivastava et al., Engineering Principles of Agricultural Machines
Which biofertiliser is specific to legumes and fixes nitrogen in root nodules?
A. Rhizobium
Rhizobium forms nodules on legume roots and is host-specific, so the right strain must be matched to the crop. Azotobacter is free-living and Azospirillum associative, both used for cereals; phosphate-solubilising bacteria release P, they do not fix N.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
1,000 kg of shelled maize at 22 % moisture (wet basis) is dried to 14 % (wet basis). How much water is removed?
C. 93.0 kg
Dry matter = 1,000 × 0.78 = 780 kg. Final mass = 780 ÷ 0.86 = 907.0 kg. Water removed = 1,000 − 907.0 = 93.0 kg. 80 kg subtracts percentage points of the initial mass; 102.6 divides by the initial dry fraction instead of the final one; 140 kg is the final moisture taken as a mass.
Further reading: Post-harvest engineering texts
Which crop is geocarpic, developing its pods below the soil surface, so that harvesting requires a digger rather than a combine header alone?
C. Groundnut
Groundnut pegs push the developing ovary into the soil where the pods form; diggers or digger-shakers lift the plants. Soybean, chickpea and black gram bear pods above ground.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
A loam field is ploughed when its moisture is well above the plastic limit. What is the most likely result?
D. Smearing and compaction that leave hard clods and a sealed furrow sole
Wet soil deforms plastically: it smears, compacts and dries into hard clods, and the plough sole is sealed. Friable tilth forms near the lower plastic limit; draft may be low but structure is damaged; crusting follows rain on fine dry seedbeds rather than wet ploughing.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
Which crop is a pulse (grain legume)?
C. Pigeonpea
Pigeonpea is a grain legume. Pearl millet is a cereal; sesame and safflower are oilseeds.
Further reading: Reddy, Principles of Agronomy
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