ICAR AIEEA-PG — Physical Science group (sub-subject 3.6 Environmental Science) · 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)
ICAR AIEEA-PG (Physical Science group, soil science units) and AICE-JRF/SRF Soil Science
Heavily examined: soil-forming factors and processes, horizons, texture classes and Stokes' law, bulk density and porosity, soil water constants, clay minerals and CEC, lyotropic series, saline/sodic criteria and gypsum requirement, essential nutrients and forms, C:N ratio, earthworms and mycorrhizae, Soil Taxonomy orders, land capability classes, soil testing methods and Indian ratings, Soil Health Card parameters.
How our questions for ICAR AIEEA-PG spread across the units of Soil Science & Soil Health. Difficulty: 13 easy, 6 medium, 0 hard.
| Soil colloids, clay minerals and cation exchange capacity | 3 | |
| Soil formation factors and processes; soil profile | 2 | |
| Soil physical properties: texture, structure, bulk density, porosity | 2 | |
| Soil water: retention, field capacity, wilting point, movement | 2 | |
| Soil reaction: acid, saline, sodic and acid sulphate soils | 2 | |
| Essential plant nutrients and their forms in soil | 2 | |
| Soil classification and soil survey; land capability classes | 2 | |
| Soil testing and soil health cards | 2 | |
| Soil organic matter: decomposition, C:N ratio, humus, mineralisation | 1 | |
| Soil biology: soil food web, earthworms, mycorrhizae | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which pale horizon is depleted of clay, iron and aluminium by eluviation?
B. E horizon
E (eluvial) loses material that accumulates below in B horizons; R is bedrock.
The permanent wilting point is conventionally taken at about:
B. -1,500 kPa
-15 bar is the conventional wilting point.
Kaolinite is which type of clay mineral?
C. 1:1
One tetrahedral and one octahedral sheet per layer.
A soil with CEC 25 cmol(+)/kg holds Ca 12, Mg 4, K 1 and Na 1 cmol(+)/kg. What is its base saturation?
A. 72%
BS = (12+4+1+1)/25 = 72%. The last value is the acid saturation.
A soil with ECe 6 dS/m, ESP 8 and pH 8.0 is classified as:
C. Saline
ECe > 4 and ESP < 15 with pH < 8.5 = saline.
Soil organic matter is commonly estimated from organic carbon by multiplying by:
A. 1.724
Assumes SOM is 58% carbon; 6.25 converts N to protein; 2.65 is particle density.
How many soil orders are there in USDA Soil Taxonomy?
A. 12
Twelve orders; WRB (2022) has 32 reference soil groups.
Dark, base-rich topsoils of temperate grasslands characterise which order?
A. Mollisols
Mollic epipedons form under grassland with high base saturation.
Which method is commonly used in India to estimate available nitrogen in soil?
C. Alkaline permanganate method
Olsen is for P, DTPA for micronutrients, ammonium acetate for K.
Under common Indian soil-test ratings, organic carbon below what level is rated low?
A. 0.5%
Low < 0.5%, medium 0.5-0.75%, high > 0.75% (Walkley-Black).
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