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ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO Livestock Production Management I: General Principles and Ruminants: practice questions

ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO (Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board) · India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
23written to this exam in this subject
14syllabus units

About ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO

ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO (Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board) is a government recruitment exam run by Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, for candidates in India. NET: 150 MCQs, 150 marks, 2 hours, -1/3 per wrong answer. ARS: preliminary 150, then descriptive mains 300, then interview 45.

Official site: pw.live.

We have not been able to confirm these details against the exam body's own specification, so fees, dates and pass marks are left out on purpose. Check the current format, eligibility, fees and dates on the official site.

Livestock Production Management I: General Principles and Ruminants in ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO

Breeds, housing, feeding, breeding and record keeping for cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats: the husbandry a field veterinarian advises on every day.

Our 23 ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO questions in this subject: 0 easy, 2 medium, 21 hard, across 14 units.

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

These 10 were written to ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO and are not shown on any other exam's page.

Question 1 · hard

A state planner wants annual estimates of milk production by district. Which data source is designed for this purpose in India?

  1. The quinquennial livestock census (conducted by the Government of India)
  2. FAOSTAT country tables
  3. The decennial population census
  4. The Integrated Sample Survey (Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics)
Answer and working

D. The Integrated Sample Survey (Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics)

Production of milk, eggs, meat and wool is estimated every year from the Integrated Sample Survey and published by DAHD as Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics. The livestock census counts animals, not production, and only about every five years; FAOSTAT compiles national totals and does not give district data.

Question 2 · hard

In designing heat abatement for a high-yielding Holstein-Friesian herd, which sequence follows the usual order of priority?

  1. Evaporative cooling, then shade, then ventilation
  2. Shade, then ventilation, then evaporative cooling with fans
  3. Ventilation only, since shade has little effect on yield in a barn
  4. Sprinklers without fans, then shade
Answer and working

B. Shade, then ventilation, then evaporative cooling with fans

Shade removes radiant heat load cheaply and is the first step; ventilation then removes heat and moisture; evaporative cooling (sprinklers or foggers combined with fans) adds the greatest cooling. Wetting cows without air movement in humid conditions can raise humidity around the animal without effective cooling.

Question 3 · hard

Why is heat detection harder in buffalo than in cattle?

  1. Buffalo have no oestrous cycle outside the rainy season in any part of India
  2. Buffalo show weak signs, often at night, and frequent silent heat
  3. Buffalo ovulate before the onset of oestrus
  4. Buffalo oestrus usually lasts less than one hour
Answer and working

B. Buffalo show weak signs, often at night, and frequent silent heat

Buffalo heat is weakly expressed and frequently nocturnal, and silent heat is common, especially in summer. They cycle through much of the year though breeding peaks from late monsoon to winter; oestrus lasts about a day, and ovulation follows its end.

Question 4 · hard

Why should dairy heifers not be over-fattened before puberty?

  1. Excess pre-pubertal fat in the udder can reduce future milk-secreting tissue
  2. Fat heifers reach puberty later than thin heifers and then repeatedly fail to conceive
  3. Over-feeding usually causes permanent anoestrus
  4. Fat heifers cannot be inseminated
Answer and working

A. Excess pre-pubertal fat in the udder can reduce future milk-secreting tissue

Rapid fattening before puberty has been associated with more fat and less secretory parenchyma in the mammary gland. Better-fed heifers actually reach puberty earlier, and fatness does not cause permanent anoestrus.

Question 5 · hard

A cow calves on day 0. Test-day yields are 14, 16, 15, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7 kg on days 15, 45, 75, 105, 135, 165, 195, 225, 255 and 285. Using the test interval method to day 305, her lactation yield is:

  1. 3,485 kg
  2. 3,507.5 kg
  3. 3,135 kg
  4. 3,345 kg
Answer and working

A. 3,485 kg

First period: 15 x 14 = 210. Nine 30-day intervals, each credited with the mean of its two tests: 30 x (15 + 15.5 + 14 + 12.5 + 11.5 + 10.5 + 9.5 + 8.5 + 7.5) = 30 x 104.5 = 3,135. Last period: 20 x 7 = 140. Total = 210 + 3,135 + 140 = 3,485 kg. 3,507.5 kg multiplies the simple mean of the tests (11.5) by 305 and ignores interval lengths; 3,135 kg leaves out the first and last periods; 3,345 kg leaves out the last period.

Question 6 · hard

Why is dentition-based age estimation less reliable in zebu cattle and buffalo than in well-fed taurine cattle?

  1. They have no deciduous incisors
  2. Eruption is later and more variable, influenced by breed and nutrition
  3. Their incisors all erupt at once, at about two years of age in every breed
  4. Their canines are not incisiform
Answer and working

B. Eruption is later and more variable, influenced by breed and nutrition

Late-maturing zebu, poorly fed cattle and buffalo erupt permanent incisors later, with buffalo reaching full mouth at around five years; standard taurine tables overestimate their youthfulness. They do have deciduous incisors and incisiform canines.

Question 7 · hard

A 100-cow herd replaces 25% of its cows each year and loses 10% of heifers between birth and first calving. How many heifer calves must be reared each year?

  1. 25
  2. About 28
  3. About 23
  4. 35
Answer and working

B. About 28

Heifers to rear = 25 / (1 - 0.10) = 25 / 0.9 = 27.8, about 28. Multiplying 25 by 0.9 gives about 23, the wrong direction; 35 adds 10 heifers instead of 10%.

Question 8 · medium

A cow bought for 80,000 is expected to be sold for 20,000 after 6 years. Annual straight-line depreciation is:

  1. 13,333
  2. 16,667
  3. 10,000
  4. 3,333
Answer and working

C. 10,000

(80,000 - 20,000) / 6 = 60,000 / 6 = 10,000. 13,333 is 80,000/6; 16,667 is (80,000 + 20,000)/6; 3,333 is 20,000/6.

Question 9 · hard

A dairy unit has annual fixed costs of 120,000, sells milk at 40 per litre and has variable costs of 25 per litre. How many litres must it sell to break even?

  1. 3,000
  2. 4,800
  3. 1,846
  4. 8,000
Answer and working

D. 8,000

Break-even quantity = fixed cost / (price - variable cost) = 120,000 / (40 - 25) = 120,000 / 15 = 8,000 litres. 3,000 divides by price only; 4,800 divides by variable cost only; 1,846 divides by price plus variable cost (65) instead of the margin.

Question 10 · medium

A dairy project has gross returns of 540,000 and total costs of 450,000 in a year. Its benefit-cost ratio and interpretation are:

  1. 0.83; the enterprise loses money
  2. 1.2; the enterprise pays
  3. 90,000; the enterprise pays
  4. 1.2; the enterprise loses money
Answer and working

B. 1.2; the enterprise pays

BCR = returns / costs = 540,000 / 450,000 = 1.2, and a ratio above 1 means returns exceed costs. 0.83 inverts the ratio; 90,000 is net return, not a ratio.

A study plan for Livestock Production Management I: General Principles and Ruminants in ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO

This plan follows where our questions actually fall, so the time goes where the marks are likely to be. It is our reading of the syllabus, not the exam body's weighting.

  1. First, the heavy units (61% of the 23 questions): Livestock economics (4, 17%); Farm records (3, 13%); Reproduction management (3, 13%); Feeding management (2, 9%); Housing and shelter management (2, 9%).

    Read the manual chapters for these first and do every worked question you can find on them.

  2. Then the middle band: Breeding management (1, 4%); Breeds and home tracts of cattle and buffalo (1, 4%); Breeds and home tracts of sheep and goats (1, 4%); Care of calves and heifers (1, 4%); Care of pregnant and lactating animals (1, 4%).

    Aim for one sitting per unit, then mixed questions across them.

  3. Then the lighter units: Clean milk production (1, 4%); Dentition and ageing (1, 4%); Identification methods (1, 4%); Livestock statistics and the livestock census (1, 4%).

    Learn the definitions, classifications and standard numbers; these units are more often recalled than worked.

  4. Leave time for the hard ones: Farm records (3 hard of 3), Reproduction management (3 hard of 3), Feeding management (2 hard of 2).

    Come back to these after a first pass, untimed, and read every explanation, including for the options you rejected.

  5. Finish timed. Sit the subject as a timed set without notes, mark it, and send each wrong answer back to its unit above.

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