State Forest Service — Assistant Conservator of Forests (state PSC exams) · India · State Public Service Commissions (e.g. TNPSC, MPPSC, UPPSC, HPPSC, KPSC, MPSC)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersRaising planting stock and getting it established in the field: nursery layout, containers and media, seedling quality, site preparation, planting and early care.
In the exams: IFoS Forestry Paper I Section A (nursery and planting techniques, grading and hardening, water budgeting); ICAR AICE-JRF 59 Unit 2; ICAR AIEEA-PG Group 09 (nursery and planting technique)
State Forest Service, Range Forest Officer and Forester examinations
Practical nursery and plantation work: bed sizes and types, polybag and stump planting, pit digging, planting patterns, plantation journals and casualty replacement.
How our questions for State Forest Service spread across the units of Forest Nursery & Plantation Establishment. Difficulty: 9 easy, 10 medium, 9 hard.
| Nursery pests and diseases | 3 | |
| Seedling quality grading and hardening | 3 | |
| Site preparation and soil working | 3 | |
| Planting patterns, spacing and pit sizes | 3 | |
| Planting methods and timing | 3 | |
| Survival assessment and beating up | 3 | |
| Nursery site selection, layout and bed types | 2 | |
| Bare-root and container nurseries; root trainers | 2 | |
| Growing media and sowing methods | 2 | |
| Nursery operations: shading, watering, nutrition, weed control | 2 | |
| Moisture conservation and irrigation at establishment | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Teak is commonly planted as:
B. Stumps, also called root-shoot cuttings
Teak stumps, with a short shoot and a longer root section trimmed from nursery seedlings, are traditional planting stock. Teak is not raised from sets or on eucalypt rootstocks.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Why do root trainers need light, soil-less growing media?
D. Soil compacts in small cells, reducing aeration and drainage
Small cells need media that stay open and drain; soil compacts. Soil is not banned, and light media neither supply lifelong nitrogen nor speed germination by a month.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Coir pith, widely used in South Asian container media, is:
B. The fibrous waste of coconut husks
Coir pith comes from coconut husks. Expanded volcanic glass is perlite; decomposed sphagnum is peat; limestone is a liming material.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
During hardening, nitrogen fertilisation is usually reduced because:
D. Nitrogen promotes shoot elongation, whereas hardening aims to stop growth and lignify tissues
Reducing N stops soft shoot growth so that plants harden. The other statements are false.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Culls in nursery grading are plants that:
C. Are too small, spindly, deformed, diseased or have coiled roots
Culls fail grading standards and are discarded. Planting poor stock wastes more than discarding it.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Soft, shade-grown, heavily fertilised plants are dispatched without hardening. What is the most likely outcome?
A. High mortality in the first dry spell after planting
Unhardened plants lose water fast and have few reserves, so they fail in dry weather. The other outcomes do not follow.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Why are larger pits, such as 45–60 cm cubes, used in arid zones and on hard soils?
A. To loosen a larger volume of soil so roots can spread and more water is stored
Larger pits loosen more soil for roots and moisture. They cost more, plants should not be buried, and polybags must be removed.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
At planting, the root collar of a container seedling should usually be:
D. At or slightly below ground level
Correct depth puts the collar at or slightly below the surface. High planting exposes roots; deep burial can rot the stem.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
What should be done if the water budget for establishment cannot be met?
B. Adjust species, spacing, planting time or conservation works rather than plant more than can be kept alive
The plan must fit the water available. Overplanting, selective watering and abandoning weeding increase losses.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Survival in a plantation is very low. What should be done before replanting?
B. Identify and correct the cause of failure, such as drought, poor stock, browsing or poor planting
Replanting without correcting the cause repeats the failure. Abandonment and spacing changes do not address the cause.
Further reading: Landis et al., The Container Tree Nursery Manual; Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics (3rd ed., 2004); Khanna, Principles and Practice of Silviculture
Ten here, 28 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to State Forest Service in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
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