NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: Checklist and Preparation Strategy

NABARD has conducted NABARD Grade A Phase I Exam on 7th September 2022 and the NABARD Grade A Mains exam 2022 is scheduled on 29th October 2022. Around 50 Days left for some Serious Preparation. Due to scarcity of time it is very much important to know what to read and what to leave in these 50 days.

NABARD Grade A 2023: Mains Exam Pattern

This is an objective and descriptive type online test. Now, Let’s understand the NABARD Grade-A Exam Pattern for Mains Exam which is consists of

Paper I – Common for all posts

Paper-II – Different for all posts

Note:- Pattern of Paper - I Descriptive Writing in 2021 was such that there were 3 Questions each for 15 Marks and 10 Marks Section (Total - 6 Questions), In that One question was mandatory in both the section and Option was given between remaining two questions, which is not the case in RBI Grade B, where you have option to write any 2 out of 3 questions from 15 marker as well as in 10 marker sections.

Given below is the detailed exam pattern of the NABARD Grade-A officer mains exam.

Separate Admission Letters will be issued for Paper - I and Paper - II (Conducted in two shifts with a gap of One Hour). The time-table for Phase-II will be intimated to the candidates concerned along with Admission Letter for Phase-II.

Exam	Name of Test	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Total Time
Paper I (Descriptive Test)	General English: The analytical and drafting abilities of the candidate will be assessed through this Paper comprising essay writing, comprehension, report writing, paragraph writing & letter writing.	3	100	90 minutes
Paper-II	Economic & Social Issues and Agriculture & Rural Development (with focus on Rural India) - Objective	30	50	30 minutes
Paper-II	Paper on related discipline - Descriptive	6 questions will be asked, of which candidates will be required to attempt 4 questions [2 of 15 marks each and 2 of 10 marks each]	50	90 minutes

NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: What is Required - Clarity, Revision, Practice

Clarity: Get idea about whatever mentioned in Agriculture and Rural Development Static Portion, even basic idea would help you in answering descriptive Questions in Exam. You can do the same for Few topics in Economics as well as in Social Issue such as Growth, Poverty, Unemployment, Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy, Sustainable Development, RCEP and International Organizations.

Revision: It is must for scoring good marks in Objective section, people generally write something with basic idea in descriptive section but in Objective Questions, options are very confusing and close so you will need to revise below recommended things multiple times.

Practice: It is single most important thing, most people leave this part thinking its not needed for mains but practice writing as much as you can.

NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: Economics and Social Issue Unit Wise Syllabus

The questions in this section are centered on the topics such as inflation, the nature of the Indian economy, population trends, rural banking and financial institutions in India, globalization of the economy, education, and social structure in India. You can take a look at the important topics of the NABARD Grade A syllabus to be able to get through the selection process.

Topic Name	Syllabus Detail
Nature of Indian Economy	Structural and Institutional features Economic Underdevelopment Opening up the Indian Economy Globalization Economic Reforms in India Privatization.
Inflation	Trends in Inflation & their Impact on National Economy and Individual Income.
Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India	Rural and Urban Measurement of Poverty Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the Government.
Population Trends	Population Growth and Economic Development Population Policy in India.
Agriculture	Characteristics / Status Technical and Institutional changes in Indian Agriculture Agricultural performance Issues in Food Security in India Non-Institutional and Institutional Agencies in rural credit.
Industry	Industrial and Labour Policy Industrial performance Regional Imbalance in India's Industrial Development Public Sector Enterprises.
Rural banking and financial institutions in India	Reforms in the Banking/ Financial sector.
Globalization of Economy	Role of International Funding Institutions IMF & World Bank WTO Regional Economic Co-operation.
Social Structure in India	Multiculturalism Demographic trends Urbanization and Migration Gender Issues Joint family system Social Infrastructure Education Health and Environment.
Education	Status & System of Education Socio-Economic Problems associated with Illiteracy Educational relevance and educational wastage Educational Policy for India.
Social Justice	Problems of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes Socio-economic programs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes.
Positive Discrimination in favor of the underprivileged	Social Movements Indian Political Systems Human Development

NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: Agriculture and Rural Development Syllabus

The topics in the NABARD Grade A syllabus for agriculture and rural development centers the questions on agriculture, soil and water conservation, water resource, Irrigation, Agriculture Extension, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj etc.

Topic Name	Details
Agriculture	Definition, meaning, and its branches Agronomy: Definition, meaning, and scope of agronomy. Classification of field crops. Factors affecting crop production Agro Climatic Zones Cropping Systems: Definition and types of cropping systems. Problems of dry land - Seed production, seed processing, seed village Meteorology: weather parameters, crop-weather advisory Precision Farming System of Crop Intensification Organic farming
Soil and Water Conservation	Major soil types Soil fertility Fertilizers Soil erosion Soil conservation Watershed management
Water Resource	Irrigation Management Types of irrigation Sources of irrigation Crop-water requirement Command area development Water conservation techniques Micro-irrigation Irrigation pumps Major, medium, and minor irrigation.
Farm and Agri Engineering	Farm Machinery and Power Sources of power on the farm- human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and biomass, biofuels Water harvesting structures Farm Ponds Agro-Processing Controlled and modified storage, perishable food storage, godowns, bins, and grain silos.
Plantation & Horticulture	Definition, meaning, and its branches Agronomic practices and production technology of various plantation and horticulture crops Post-harvest management, value and supply chain management of Plantation and Horticulture crops.
Animal Husbandry	Farm animals and their role in the Indian economy Animal husbandry methods in India Common terms pertaining to different species of livestock Utility classification of breeds of cattle. Introduction to common feeds and fodders, their classification, and utility. Introduction to the poultry industry in India (past, present, and future status) Common terms pertaining to poultry production and management The concept of mixed farming and its relevance to socio-economic conditions of farmers in India Complimentary and obligatory nature of livestock and poultry production with that of agricultural farming.
Fisheries	Fisheries resources Management and exploitation - freshwater, brackish water, and marine Aquaculture- Inland and marine Biotechnology Post-harvest technology Importance of fisheries in India Common terms pertaining to fish production.
Forestry	Basic concepts of Forest and Forestry Principles of silviculture, forest mensuration, forest management, and forest economics Concepts of social forestry, agroforestry, joint forest management Forest policy and legislation in India, India State of Forest Report 2015 Recent developments under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Agriculture Extensions	Its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programs Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra's (KVK) in the dissemination of Agricultural technologies.
Ecology and Climate Change	Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, sustainable management, and conservation Causes of climate change, Green House Gases (GHG), major GHG emitting countries, climate analysis Distinguish between adaptation and mitigation Climate change impact on agriculture and rural livelihoods Carbon credit IPCC, UNFCCC, CoP meetings Funding mechanisms for climate change projects Initiatives by Govt of India, NAPCC, SAPCC, INDC.
Present Scenario of Indian Agriculture and Allied activities	Recent trends Major challenges in agriculture measures to enhance Viability of agriculture Factors of Production in agriculture Agricultural Finance and Marketing Impact of Globalization on Indian Agriculture and issues of Food Security Concept and Types of Farm Management.
Rural Development	Concept of Rural Area Structure of the Indian Rural Economy Importance and role of the rural sector in India Economic, Social and Demographic Characteristics of the Indian rural economy Causes of Rural Backwardness. Rural population in India Occupational structure Farmers, Agricultural Laborers, Artisans, Handicrafts, Traders, Forest dwellers/tribes, and others in rural India Trends of change in rural population and rural workforce Problems and conditions of rural labour Issues and challenges in Hand-looms Panchayati Raj Institutions – Functions and Working. MGNREGA, NRLM – Aajeevika, Rural Drinking water Programmes, Swachh Bharat, Rural Housing, PURA, and other rural development programs

NABARD Grade A Mains 2021: Previous Year Descriptive Questions

NABARD Grade A 2021: Descriptive Questions

NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: What to Read in ESI and ARD

I. RBI, SEBI and NABARD in News - (Starting from Jan 2022)

II. Banking and Economy News (You can leave unnecessary news related to insurance etc) - Last 4-5 Months

III. PIB Summary with special focus on Syllabus Related Ministry (Starting from Jan 2022) - Buy PIB Summary (Jan - Aug 2022)

Related Ministry ESI: Finance, MSME, Labour, Health, Education, Women, Social Justice, Tribal and Commerce.
Related Ministry ARD: Agriculture, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Jal Shakti, Food Processing, Animal Husbandry, Environment, Textile (Handloom),

IV. Agriculture Static - Revise Important Topics such as Basic Agriculture, Soil and Water Resources, Irrigation, Organic Farming, Environment and Ecology, Extension (You can expect related questions in Both Paragraph based questions as well as under one-liner questions)

V. Agriculture Statics - Most important - You can expect 2-3 questions from this section.

VI. Reports and Indices - From Last 6-8 Months (Last year they asked one not so popular report of UNESCO) so go through all the reports of UN Organizations as well as National Reports

Reports and Indices: Focus on RBI reports, NITI Aayog, any other national report then World Bank, IMF, OECD, UNDP, UN-DESA, UNCTAD, UNESCO (Related to Education) or any report which talk related to Poverty, Employment, Inequality, Education, Health, Status of Women and Economy.

VI. NABARD Annual Report and Microfinance Report 2022

VII. Check Official Website - NABARD, AEPDA, MEPDA, TRIFEED, KVIC and other related organization for latest updates and Data.

VIII. Union Budget and Economic Survey: It is must even you can expect Questions in Descriptive Answer Writing, so cover all the terminology or anything new discussed in Economic Survey, do go through the gist of Union Budget, note down all the allocations to different ministry and flagship programs, see if any new programs have been launched.

IX. Summits in News - Cover all the Important summits like G20, G7, BIMSTEC, ASEAN, QUAD etc (Most Probably descriptive can be asked on Topics like QUAD)

NABARD Grade A Mains 2023: What to do for Descriptive Section

Questions - Answer Approach: Prepare a list of probable Questions from each chapters of Agriculture Static as well as from important chapters of ESI, covering all dimension and try to Prepare a model answer for it so even if they ask different question, somehow you will be able to write on it.

Also Prepare a probable list of Probable Current affairs based Questions from both Economics and Agriculture such as Integrated Farming, Rice fortification etc., also in economic such as Role of monetary policy, Microfinance, Rural Entrepreneurship, Contribution of SHG in Rural Development etc.

Evaluation of Descriptive: There are some groups in which people post questions and get the reviews from members, you can utilize them also mock tests are available, although its bit costly but you should at least get one as you will get expert reviews for your answers and it will more beneficial as student reviews are sometime vague and not upto the mark.