GATE 2014 Syllabus for Agricultural Engineering (AG)
General Aptitude
1. Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word
groups, instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction.
2. Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data interpretation.
Engineering Mathematics
Linear Algebra: Matrices and Determinants, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values
and eigen vectors.
Calculus: Limit, continuity and differentiability; Partial Derivatives; Maxima and
minima; Sequences and series; Test for convergence; Fourier series.
Vector Calculus: Gradient; Divergence and Curl; Line; surface and volume integrals;
Stokes, Gauss and Green’s theorems.
Differential Equations: Linear and non-linear first order ODEs; Higher order linear
ODEs with constant coefficients; Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations; Laplace transforms;
PDEs -Laplace, heat and wave equations.
Probability and Statistics: Mean, median, mode and standard deviation; Random
variables; Poisson, normal and binomial distributions; Correlation and regression
analysis.
Numerical Methods: Solutions of linear and non-linear algebraic equations; integration
of trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule; single and multi-step methods for differential
equations.
Farm Machinery and Power
Sources of power on the farm-human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and
biomass; bio-fuels; design and selection of machine elements – gears, pulleys, chains and
sprockets and belts; overload safety devices used in farm machinery; measurement of
force, torque, speed, displacement and acceleration on machine elements.
Soil tillage; forces acting on a tillage tool; hitch systems and hitching of tillage
implements; mechanics of animal traction; functional requirements, principles of
working, construction and operation of manual, animal and power operated equipment
for tillage, sowing, planting, fertilizer application, inter-cultivation, spraying, mowing,
chaff cutting, harvesting, threshing and transport; testing of agricultural machinery and
equipment; calculation of performance parameters -field capacity, efficiency, application
rate and losses; cost analysis of implements and tractors
Thermodynamic principles of I.C. engines; I.C. engine cycles; engine components; fuels
and combustion; lubricants and their properties; I.C. engine systems – fuel, cooling,
lubrication, ignition, electrical, intake and exhaust; selection, operation, maintenance
and repair of I.C. engines; power efficiencies and measurement; calculation of power,
torque, fuel consumption, heat load and power losses.
Tractors and power tillers – type, selection, maintenance and repair; tractor clutches
and brakes; power transmission systems – gear trains, differential, final drives and
power take-off; mechanics of tractor chassis; traction theory; three point hitches- free
link and restrained link operations; mechanical steering and hydraulic control systems
used in tractors; human engineering and safety in tractor design; tractor tests and
performance.
Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Ideal and real fluids, properties of fluids; hydrostatic pressure and its measurement;
hydrostatic forces on plane and curved surface; continuity equation; Bernoulli’s
theorem; laminar and turbulent flow in pipes, Darcy- Weisbach and Hazen-Williams
equations, Moody’s diagram; flow through orifices and notches; flow in open channels.
Engineering properties of soils; fundamental definitions and relationships; index
properties of soils; permeability and seepage analysis; shear strength, Mohr’s circle of
stress, active and passive earth pressures; stability of slopes.
Hydrological cycle; meteorological parameters and their measurement, analysis of
precipitation data; abstraction from precipitation; runoff; hydrograph analysis, unit
hydrograph theory and application; stream flow measurement; flood routing,
hydrological reservoir and channel routing.
Measurement of distance and area; chain surveying, methods of traversing;
measurement of angles and bearings, plane table surveying; types of leveling;
contouring; instruments for surveying and leveling; computation of earth work.
Mechanics of soil erosion, soil erosion types; wind and water erosion; factors affecting
erosion; soil loss estimation; biological and engineering measures to control erosion;
terraces and bunds; vegetative waterways; gully control structures, drop, drop inlet and
chute spillways; earthen dams; water harvesting structures, farm ponds, watershed
management.
Soil-water-plant relationship, water requirement of crops; consumptive use and evapotranspiration; irrigation scheduling; irrigation efficiencies; design of irrigation channels;
measurement of soil moisture, irrigation water and infiltration; surface, sprinkler and
drip methods of irrigation; design and evaluation of irrigation methods.
Drainage coefficient; planning, design and layout of surface and sub-surface drainage
systems; leaching requirement and salinity control; irrigation and drainage water
quality.
Groundwater occurrence confined and unconfined aquifers, evaluation of aquifer
properties; well hydraulics; groundwater recharge.
Classification of pumps; pump characteristics; pump selection and installation.
Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering
Steady state heat transfer in conduction, convection and radiation; transient heat
transfer in simple geometry; condensation and boiling heat transfer; working principles
of heat exchangers; diffusive and convective mass transfer; simultaneous heat and mass
transfer in agricultural processing operations.
Material and energy balances in food processing systems; water activity, sorption and
desorption isotherms; centrifugal separation of solids, liquids and gases; kinetics of
icrobial death – pasteurization and sterilization of liquid foods; preservation of food
by cooling and freezing; refrigeration and cold storage basics and applications;
psychrometry – properties of air-vapors mixture; concentration and drying of liquid
foods – evaporators, tray, drum and spray dryers.
Mechanics and energy requirement in size reduction of granular solids; particle size
analysis for comminuted solids; size separation by screening; fluidization of granular
solids-pneumatic, bucket, screw and belt conveying; cleaning and grading; Effectiveness
of grain cleaners.
Hydrothermal treatment, drying and milling of cereals, pulses and oilseeds; Processing
of seeds, spices, fruits and vegetables; By-product utilization from processing industries.
Controlled and modified atmosphere storage; Perishable food storage, godowns, bins
and grain silos.
General Aptitude
1. Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word
groups, instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction.
2. Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data interpretation.
Engineering Mathematics
Linear Algebra: Matrices and Determinants, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values
and eigen vectors.
Calculus: Limit, continuity and differentiability; Partial Derivatives; Maxima and
minima; Sequences and series; Test for convergence; Fourier series.
Vector Calculus: Gradient; Divergence and Curl; Line; surface and volume integrals;
Stokes, Gauss and Green’s theorems.
Differential Equations: Linear and non-linear first order ODEs; Higher order linear
ODEs with constant coefficients; Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations; Laplace transforms;
PDEs -Laplace, heat and wave equations.
Probability and Statistics: Mean, median, mode and standard deviation; Random
variables; Poisson, normal and binomial distributions; Correlation and regression
analysis.
Numerical Methods: Solutions of linear and non-linear algebraic equations; integration
of trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule; single and multi-step methods for differential
equations.
Farm Machinery and Power
Sources of power on the farm-human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and
biomass; bio-fuels; design and selection of machine elements – gears, pulleys, chains and
sprockets and belts; overload safety devices used in farm machinery; measurement of
force, torque, speed, displacement and acceleration on machine elements.
Soil tillage; forces acting on a tillage tool; hitch systems and hitching of tillage
implements; mechanics of animal traction; functional requirements, principles of
working, construction and operation of manual, animal and power operated equipment
for tillage, sowing, planting, fertilizer application, inter-cultivation, spraying, mowing,
chaff cutting, harvesting, threshing and transport; testing of agricultural machinery and
equipment; calculation of performance parameters -field capacity, efficiency, application
rate and losses; cost analysis of implements and tractors
Thermodynamic principles of I.C. engines; I.C. engine cycles; engine components; fuels
and combustion; lubricants and their properties; I.C. engine systems – fuel, cooling,
lubrication, ignition, electrical, intake and exhaust; selection, operation, maintenance
and repair of I.C. engines; power efficiencies and measurement; calculation of power,
torque, fuel consumption, heat load and power losses.
Tractors and power tillers – type, selection, maintenance and repair; tractor clutches
and brakes; power transmission systems – gear trains, differential, final drives and
power take-off; mechanics of tractor chassis; traction theory; three point hitches- free
link and restrained link operations; mechanical steering and hydraulic control systems
used in tractors; human engineering and safety in tractor design; tractor tests and
performance.
Soil and Water Conservation Engineering
Ideal and real fluids, properties of fluids; hydrostatic pressure and its measurement;
hydrostatic forces on plane and curved surface; continuity equation; Bernoulli’s
theorem; laminar and turbulent flow in pipes, Darcy- Weisbach and Hazen-Williams
equations, Moody’s diagram; flow through orifices and notches; flow in open channels.
Engineering properties of soils; fundamental definitions and relationships; index
properties of soils; permeability and seepage analysis; shear strength, Mohr’s circle of
stress, active and passive earth pressures; stability of slopes.
Hydrological cycle; meteorological parameters and their measurement, analysis of
precipitation data; abstraction from precipitation; runoff; hydrograph analysis, unit
hydrograph theory and application; stream flow measurement; flood routing,
hydrological reservoir and channel routing.
Measurement of distance and area; chain surveying, methods of traversing;
measurement of angles and bearings, plane table surveying; types of leveling;
contouring; instruments for surveying and leveling; computation of earth work.
Mechanics of soil erosion, soil erosion types; wind and water erosion; factors affecting
erosion; soil loss estimation; biological and engineering measures to control erosion;
terraces and bunds; vegetative waterways; gully control structures, drop, drop inlet and
chute spillways; earthen dams; water harvesting structures, farm ponds, watershed
management.
Soil-water-plant relationship, water requirement of crops; consumptive use and evapotranspiration; irrigation scheduling; irrigation efficiencies; design of irrigation channels;
measurement of soil moisture, irrigation water and infiltration; surface, sprinkler and
drip methods of irrigation; design and evaluation of irrigation methods.
Drainage coefficient; planning, design and layout of surface and sub-surface drainage
systems; leaching requirement and salinity control; irrigation and drainage water
quality.
Groundwater occurrence confined and unconfined aquifers, evaluation of aquifer
properties; well hydraulics; groundwater recharge.
Classification of pumps; pump characteristics; pump selection and installation.
Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering
Steady state heat transfer in conduction, convection and radiation; transient heat
transfer in simple geometry; condensation and boiling heat transfer; working principles
of heat exchangers; diffusive and convective mass transfer; simultaneous heat and mass
transfer in agricultural processing operations.
Material and energy balances in food processing systems; water activity, sorption and
desorption isotherms; centrifugal separation of solids, liquids and gases; kinetics of
icrobial death – pasteurization and sterilization of liquid foods; preservation of food
by cooling and freezing; refrigeration and cold storage basics and applications;
psychrometry – properties of air-vapors mixture; concentration and drying of liquid
foods – evaporators, tray, drum and spray dryers.
Mechanics and energy requirement in size reduction of granular solids; particle size
analysis for comminuted solids; size separation by screening; fluidization of granular
solids-pneumatic, bucket, screw and belt conveying; cleaning and grading; Effectiveness
of grain cleaners.
Hydrothermal treatment, drying and milling of cereals, pulses and oilseeds; Processing
of seeds, spices, fruits and vegetables; By-product utilization from processing industries.
Controlled and modified atmosphere storage; Perishable food storage, godowns, bins
and grain silos.
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