ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences · India · NTA for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersGrowing, conserving and grazing the forage that feeds ruminants: fodder crops, hay and silage, pasture management and toxic plants.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 05 (LPM and Nutrition units)
ICAR AIEEA-PG — Animal Sciences (LPM)
Season and stage of cutting of kharif and rabi fodders, hay and silage making, fodder calendars and cropping systems, Indian grassland types and range grasses, and simple stocking-rate and dry matter calculations.
How our questions for ICAR AIEEA spread across the units of Fodder Production & Grassland Management. Difficulty: 5 easy, 24 medium, 3 hard.
| Legume fodder crops | 6 | |
| Cereal fodder crops | 4 | |
| Fodder cropping systems | 4 | |
| Silage making | 4 | |
| Hay making | 3 | |
| Pasture management | 3 | |
| Grassland management | 3 | |
| Fodder yield and nutritive value | 3 | |
| Fodder grasses | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A farmer will sow lucerne for the first time on land where it has never grown. What should be done with the seed?
A. Inoculate it with the Rhizobium strain specific to lucerne before sowing
Rhizobium inoculants are grouped by host; lucerne needs its own strain (the Sinorhizobium meliloti group). Cowpea inoculant does not nodulate lucerne; nodulation matters for forage legumes as much as grain legumes; relying on fertiliser nitrogen wastes the legume's main advantage.
Further reading: Barnes et al., Forages: The Science of Grassland Agriculture
Why is hybrid Napier planted from root slips or stem cuttings rather than from seed?
D. It is a triploid that sets little or no viable seed
Hybrid Napier is triploid (pearl millet x Napier), and triploids are largely sterile, so it is propagated vegetatively. Its seed is not toxic, there is no paddy-only germination, and it is not tetraploid.
Further reading: ICAR-IGFRI technical bulletins; ICAR Handbook of Animal Husbandry
What is the 'overlapping cropping system' developed for year-round fodder on irrigated land?
A. A perennial grass such as hybrid Napier in wide rows, with seasonal legumes sown between them
The overlapping system pairs a perennial grass with seasonal legumes (berseem in winter, cowpea in summer) between its rows, giving a near-continuous cereal-legume supply. Sowing into a standing crop is relay cropping; the other descriptions are not this system.
Further reading: ICAR-IGFRI technical bulletins; ICAR Handbook of Animal Husbandry
Which sequence is a typical year-round fodder rotation on irrigated land in north India?
C. Maize + cowpea (kharif) - berseem + oats (rabi) - summer maize or cowpea
Kharif (monsoon) suits maize, sorghum and cowpea; rabi (winter) suits berseem and oats; a short summer crop fills the gap. The other sequences put winter crops in the monsoon or summer and vice versa.
Further reading: ICAR-IGFRI technical bulletins; ICAR Handbook of Animal Husbandry
For good-quality legume hay such as lucerne, the crop should be cut at:
A. Late bud to early bloom
Late bud to early bloom balances yield, protein and digestibility and lets root reserves recover. Full seed set and leaf drop give stemmy, low-protein hay; the seedling stage gives almost no yield and kills the stand.
Further reading: Barnes et al., Forages: The Science of Grassland Agriculture
Why are legume hay crops such as lucerne raked and baled while the leaves are still slightly moist, often in the early morning?
C. Dry legume leaves become brittle and shatter, and the leaves hold most of the protein
Legume leaves dry quickly and shatter during raking and baling; since leaves carry most of the protein, handling them slightly moist limits loss. Hay is not preserved by fermentation, dew does not remove bloat risk, and 40% moisture is far too wet for hay.
Further reading: Barnes et al., Forages: The Science of Grassland Agriculture
A 20 ha pasture produces 6,000 kg DM/ha/year and 50% may be safely utilised. How many 450 kg cows, each eating 2.5% of body weight as DM daily, can it carry for a year?
B. About 14.6 cows
Usable DM = 20 x 6,000 x 0.5 = 60,000 kg. Intake = 450 x 0.025 = 11.25 kg/day x 365 = 4,106 kg/year. Cows = 60,000 / 4,106 = 14.6. 29.2 ignores the 50% utilisation; 7.3 halves twice; 146 is a decimal slip.
Further reading: Holechek, Pieper and Herbel, Range Management
Herbage clipped from a 0.25 m2 quadrat yields 60 g of dry matter. What is the standing biomass?
B. 2,400 kg DM/ha
60 g / 0.25 m2 = 240 g/m2. Since 1 g/m2 = 10 kg/ha, 240 g/m2 = 2,400 kg/ha. 240 forgets the x10 conversion; 24,000 is a decimal slip; 600 multiplies 60 g by 10 without scaling to 1 m2.
Further reading: Holechek, Pieper and Herbel, Range Management
A grass sample contains 62% NDF and 38% ADF on a DM basis. What is its hemicellulose content?
D. 24%
Hemicellulose = NDF - ADF = 62 - 38 = 24%. 100% adds the two fractions; 38% and 62% are the ADF and NDF values themselves.
Further reading: Van Soest, Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant
Below roughly what crude protein content in the diet DM does rumen microbial fermentation become nitrogen-limited, depressing intake of a roughage?
C. About 7%
Rumen microbes need nitrogen; below about 7% CP in the diet DM their growth and fibre digestion fall and intake drops, which is why straw-based diets need supplementary N. 1% is far too low to be a threshold; 18% and 30% are well above the limiting level.
Further reading: McDonald et al., Animal Nutrition
Ten here, 32 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AIEEA 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.
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