ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Environmental Sciences (subject 71) and Agricultural Meteorology (subject 60) · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersSoil as a living, finite resource: formation, physical, chemical and biological properties, organic matter, and how soil health is measured. The engineering properties of soil are in the Agricultural Engineering track; this subject is about soil function and its role in carbon, water and nutrient cycles.
In the exams: ICAR AIEEA-PG Physical Science Units III–IV (heavy); ICAR AICE subject 71 Unit 4 (soil pollution); GATE ES Section 2 (soil chemistry)
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Soil Science & Soil Health. Difficulty: 0 easy, 21 medium, 1 hard.
| Soil formation factors and processes; soil profile | 2 | |
| Soil water: retention, field capacity, wilting point, movement | 2 | |
| Soil colloids, clay minerals and cation exchange capacity | 2 | |
| Soil reaction: acid, saline, sodic and acid sulphate soils | 2 | |
| Essential plant nutrients and their forms in soil | 2 | |
| Soil organic matter: decomposition, C:N ratio, humus, mineralisation | 2 | |
| Soil biology: soil food web, earthworms, mycorrhizae | 2 | |
| Soil classification and soil survey; land capability classes | 2 | |
| Soil health indicators and soil quality indices | 2 | |
| Soil functions and soil ecosystem services | 2 | |
| Soil physical properties: texture, structure, bulk density, porosity | 1 | |
| Soil testing and soil health cards | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which process dominates soil formation in hot, humid tropics, leaving iron and aluminium oxides?
B. Laterisation
Intense weathering and silica loss concentrate sesquioxides.
Which structure type, with rounded tops, is typical of sodic subsoils?
B. Columnar
Prismatic peds with rounded caps are columnar, associated with high sodium.
Permanent negative charge on clay minerals arises from:
B. Isomorphous substitution
Replacement of Si4+ by Al3+ or Al3+ by Mg2+ during crystallisation leaves a charge deficit.
Why does the lime requirement of a clay soil exceed that of a sand at the same pH?
D. The clay has higher buffer capacity from more exchangeable acidity
More CEC and organic matter hold more reserve acidity.
Who proposed the criteria of essentiality for plant nutrients?
B. Arnon and Stout
Arnon and Stout (1939). Liebig proposed the law of the minimum; Jenny and Dokuchaev worked on soil formation.
In classical humus fractionation, which fraction is soluble in alkali but precipitated by acid?
C. Humic acid
Fulvic acid is soluble in both; humin is insoluble.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mainly help plants acquire:
B. Phosphorus and zinc
Hyphae extend the depletion zone for immobile nutrients.
Which order consists of organic soils such as peat?
C. Histosols
Histosols have thick organic horizons. Entisols, Aridisols and Oxisols are mineral soils.
Who, with Parkin (1994), defined soil quality in a widely cited framework?
D. Doran
Doran and Parkin (1994); Karlen and colleagues (1997) refined the definition.
In the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework, nutrient cycling and soil formation are which type of service?
D. Supporting
Supporting services underpin the others. Provisioning, regulating and cultural services depend on them.
Ten here, 22 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF 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.
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.