Nepal Engineering Council Registration Exam Agricultural Structures & Environmental Control: practice questions

Question 1 · easy

Which dairy housing system is most often recommended in Indian and tropical textbooks for medium-sized herds?

1. Fully enclosed insulated barns with heating
2. Permanent tie-stalls with cows tied for the whole year indoors
3. Deep-pit slatted barns with automatic manure scrapers and heaters
4. Loose housing with a covered resting area and an open paddock

Question 2 · easy

Open-sided naturally ventilated poultry houses in tropical countries are usually kept narrow, commonly about 9 m wide or less. Why?

1. So cross-ventilation through the side walls can sweep the whole floor
2. So the roof can be built without any trusses at all, using flat slabs
3. Because birds will not walk more than 4 m from a side wall to feed
4. So that rain can enter freely and keep the litter moist for the birds

Question 3 · medium

During the first week of brooding, the air temperature near day-old broiler chicks is commonly held at about what level (exact values follow breed guidance)?

1. About 18–21 °C, the same as for adult broilers
2. About 40–43 °C, raised each week as chicks grow
3. About 32–35 °C, lowered by a few degrees each week
4. About 25–27 °C, held constant until slaughter

Question 4 · easy

What is the main purpose of a farrowing crate?

1. To keep the sow warm at 30 °C or more throughout the farrowing period
2. To reduce the number of piglets crushed when the sow lies down
3. To let the sow turn round freely while she is nursing her litter
4. To separate the boar from the sow

Question 5 · hard

A rural house is to be built in a flood-prone, termite-prone, cyclone-exposed coastal district. Which group of measures belongs in the design?

1. A basement for storage, untreated timber posts in the ground, and loose roof sheets
2. Raised plinth with DPC, termite-treated foundation, roof anchored to walls
3. A floor at ground level, an earth roof with no ties, and the latrine beside the well
4. A thatched roof weighted with stones and walls of unstabilised mud below flood level

Question 6 · easy

Which floor construction best prevents rats burrowing up into a godown?

1. A timber floor on short posts, leaving an open crawl space underneath it
2. A solid concrete floor on compacted fill, with foundations below ground
3. A floor of loose sand, which collapses any tunnels as the rats dig into it
4. A rammed-earth floor plastered with mud and dung, renewed every season

Question 7 · medium

How should the camber of a farm road vary with its surface?

1. Flatter for earth and gravel surfaces, steeper for bitumen and concrete
2. The same for all surfaces, since camber depends only on carriageway width
3. Steeper for earth and gravel surfaces, flatter for bitumen and concrete
4. Zero for earth roads, since rainwater soaks into them anyway after storms

Question 8 · easy

A 700 m perimeter fence has 4 strands of barbed wire. Allowing 5% extra for ties and wastage, what length of wire is needed?

1. 2,800 m
2. 735 m
3. 4,200 m
4. 2,940 m

Question 9 · easy

Which fence type is most suitable for keeping sheep and goats in a paddock?

1. Two strands of barbed wire set high above the ground
2. A single high-tensile electrified wire at 1.2 m
3. Widely spaced post-and-rail with no infill wire
4. Woven net wire with closer mesh near the ground

Question 10 · easy

Which feature is essential on a concrete slab used to stack solid manure?

1. An open edge so that seepage can run freely into the nearest field drain
2. A slope toward the farm well, so that the liquid can be pumped out easily
3. Low walls and a drain that carries seepage and rainwater to a liquid store
4. A timber floor that absorbs liquids, so that no drainage system is needed