The UPSC Optional Syllabus of Animal Husbandry And Veterinary Science consists of two papers, Paper I and Paper II, each carrying a weightage of 250 marks. Both the papers are divided into different sections, and candidates must choose one subject from each section. Let us look into the details of each paper.
UPSC Animal Husbandry And Veterinary Science Optional Syllabus
The UPSC Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Optional course is designed for those who are interested in the study of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science and related areas. This course provides a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of animal health, disease management, reproduction, nutrition and welfare.
| UPSC Animal Husbandry And Veterinary Science Syllabus | Topics |
| Paper I | Animal Nutrition Animal Physiology Animal Reproduction Livestock Production and Management Genetics and Animal Breeding Extension |
| Paper II | Anatomy, Pharmacology and Hygiene Animal Diseases Veterinary Public Health Milk and Milk Products Technology Meat Hygiene and Technology |
UPSC Animal Husbandry And Veterinary Science Optional Syllabus for Paper I
Animal Nutrition
- Partitioning of food energy within the animal. Direct and indirect calorimetry. Carbonโnitrogen balance and comparative slaughter methods. Systems for expressing the energy value of foods in ruminants, pigs and poultry. Energy requirements for maintenance, growth, pregnancy, lactation, egg, wool, and meat production.
- Latest advances in protein nutrition. Energy protein inter-relationships. Evaluation of protein quality. Use of NPN compounds in ruminant diets. Protein requirements for maintenance, growth, pregnancy, lactation, egg, wool and meat production.
- Major and trace mineralsโTheir sources, physiological functions and deficiency symptoms. Toxic minerals. Mineral interactions. Role of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins in the body, their sources and deficiency symptoms.
- Feed additivesโmethane inhibitors, probiotics, enzymes, antibiotics, hormones, oligosaccharides, antioxidants, emulsifiers, mould inhibitors, buffers etc. Use and abuse of growth promoters like hormones and antibioticsโlatest concepts.
- Conservation of fodders. Storage of feeds and feed ingredients. Recent advances in feed technology and feed processing. Anti-nutritional and toxic factors present in livestock feeds. Feed analysis and quality control. Digestibility trialsโdirect, indirect and indicator methods. Predicting feed intake in grazing animals.
- Advances in ruminant nutrition. Nutrient requirements. Balanced rations. Feeding of calves, pregnant, work animals and breeding bulls. Strategies for feeding milch animals during different stages of the lactation cycle. Effect of feeding on milk composition. Feeding of goats for meat and milk production. Feeding of sheep for meat and wool production.
- Swine Nutrition. Nutrient requirements. Creep, starter, grower and finisher rations. Feeding of pigs for lean meat production. Low-cost rations for swine.
- Poultry nutrition. Special features of poultry nutrition. Nutrient requirements for meat and egg production. Formulation of rations for different classes of layers and broilers.
Animal Physiology
- Physiology of blood and its circulation, respiration; and excretion. Endocrine glands in health and disease.
- Blood constituents- Properties and functions cell formationโHaemoglobin synthesis and chemistry-plasma proteins production, classification and properties, coagulation of blood; Haemorrhagic disordersโanti-coagulantsโblood groupsโBlood volumeโPlasma expandersBuffer systems in blood. Biochemical tests and their significance in disease diagnosis.
- Circulation.โPhysiology of heart, cardiac cycle, heart sounds, heart beat, electrocardiograms. Work and efficiency of heartโeffect of ions on heart function-metabolism of cardiac muscle, nervous and chemical regulation of heart, the effect of temperature and stress on heart, blood pressure and hypertension, osmotic regulation, arterial pulse, vasomotor regulation of circulation, shock. Coronary and pulmonary circulation, Blood-Brain barrier Cerebrospinal fluid-circulation in birds.
- Respiration.โMechanism of respiration, Transport and exchange of gases- neural control of respiration- chemo-receptors- hypoxia-respiration in birds.
- Excretion.โStructure and function of kidney-formation of urine-methods of studying renal function regulation of acid-base balance: physiological constituents of urine-renal failure passive venous congestion-Urinary secretion in chicken-Sweat glands and their function. Biochemical test for urinary dysfunction.
- Endocrine glands.โFunctional disordersโtheir symptoms and diagnosis. Synthesis of hormones, mechanism and control of secretionโhormonal receptors-classification and function.
- Growth and Animal Production.โPrenatal and postnatal growth, maturation, growth curves, measures of growth, factors affecting growth, conformation, body composition, and meat quality.
- Physiology of Milk Production, Reproduction and Digestion.โCurrent status of hormonal control of mammary development, milk secretion and milk ejection. Male and Female reproductive organs, their components and functions. Digestive organs and their functions.
- Environmental Physiology.โPhysiological relations and their regulation; mechanisms of adaptation, environmental factors and regulatory mechanisms involved in animal behaviour, climatologyโvarious parameters and their importance. Animal ecology. Physiology of behaviour. Effect of stress on health and production.
The Animal Reproduction
- Semen quality.โPreservation and Artificial InseminationโComponents of semen, composition of spermatozoa, chemical and physical properties of ejaculated semen, factors affecting semen in vivo and in vitro. Factors affecting semen production and quality, preservation, composition of diluents, sperm concentration, and transport of diluted semen. Deep freezing techniques in cows, sheep, goats, swine and poultry. Detection of oestrus and time of insemination for better conception. Anoestrus and repeat breeding.
Livestock Production and Management
- Commercial Dairy Farming.โComparison of dairy farming in India with advanced countries. Dairying under mixed farming and as specialized farming, economic dairy farming. Starting of a dairy farm, Capital and land requirement, organization of the dairy farm. Opportunities in dairy farming, factors determining the efficiency of dairy animals. Herd recording, budgeting cost of milk production, pricing policy; Personnel Management. Developing Practical and Economic rations for dairy cattle; supply of greens throughout the year, feed and fodder requirements of Dairy Farm. Feeding regimes for young stock and bulls, heifers and breeding animals; new trends in feeding young and adult stock; Feeding records.
- Commercial meat, egg and wool production.โDevelopment of practical and economic rations for sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and poultry. Supply of greens, fodder, and feeding regimes for young and mature stock. New trends in enhancing production and management. Capital and land requirements and socio-economic concept.
- Feeding and management of animals under drought, flood and other natural calamities.
Genetics and Animal Breeding
- History of animal genetics. Mitosis and Meiosis: Mendelian inheritance; deviations to Mendelian genetics; Expression of genes; Linkage and crossing over; Sex determination, sex influenced and sex limited characters; Blood groups and polymorphism; Chromosome aberrations; Cytoplasmic inheritance, Gene and its structure; DNA as a genetic material; Genetic code and protein synthesis; Recombinant DNA technology. Mutations, types of mutations, methods for detecting mutations and mutation rate, Transgenesis.
- Population Genetics Applied to Animal BreedingโQuantitative Vs. Qualitative traits; Hardy Weinberg Law; Population Vs. Individual; Gene and genotypic frequency; Forces changing gene frequency; Random drift and small populations; Theory of path coefficient; Inbreeding, methods of estimating inbreeding coefficient, systems of inbreeding; Effective population size; Breeding value, estimation of breeding value, dominance and epistatic deviation; Partitioning of variation; Genotype X environment correlation and genotype X environment interaction; role of multiple measurements; Resemblance between relatives.
- Breeding Systems.โBreeds of Livestock and Poultry. Heritability, repeatability and genetic and phenotypic correlations, their methods of estimation and precision of estimates; Aids to selection and their relative merits; Individual, pedigree, family and within family selection; Pregnancy testing; Methods of selection; Construction of selection indices and their uses; Comparative evaluation of genetic gains through various selection methods; Indirect selection and correlated response; Inbreeding, outbreeding, upgrading, cross-breeding and synthesis of breeds; Crossing of inbred lines for commercial production; Selection for general and specific combining ability; Breeding for threshold characters. Sire index.
Extension
- Basic philosophy, objectives, concept and principles of extension. Different Methods were adopted to educate farmers under rural conditions. Generation of technology, its transfer and feedback. Problems and constraints in transfer of technology. Animal husbandry programmes for rural development.
UPSC Animal Husbandry And Veterinary Science Optional Syllabus for Paper II
Anatomy, Pharmacology and Hygiene
- Histology and Histological Techniques: Paraffin embedding technique of tissue processing and H.E. stainingโFreezing microtomyโMicroscopy Bright field microscope and electron microscope. Cytology-structure of cell organelles and inclusions; cell division-cell typesโTissues and their classification-embryonic and adult tissuesโComparative histology of organsโVascular, Nervous, digestive, respiratory, musculoskeletal and urogenital systemsโEndocrine glandsโIntegumentsโsense organs.
- Embryology.โEmbryology of vertebrates with special reference to aves and domestic mammals gametogenesis-fertilization-germ layers-foetal membranes and placentation-types of the placenta in domestic mammals-Teratology-twins and twinning-organogenesis-germ layer derivatives endodermal, mesodermal and ectodermal derivatives.
- Bovine Anatomy.โRegional Anatomy: Paranasal sinuses of OXโ surface anatomy of salivary glands. Regional anatomy of infraorbital, maxillary, mandi-buloalveolar, mental and corneal nerve block. Regional anatomy of paravertebral nerves, pudendal nerve, median, ulnar and radial nerve tibial, fibular and digital nervesโCranial nerves-structures involved in epidural anaesthesia-superficial lymph nodes-surface anatomy of visceral organs of thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities-comparative-features of locomotor apparatus and their application in the biomechanics of the mammalian body.
- Anatomy of Fowl.โMusculo-skeletal system-functional anatomy about respiration and flying, digestion and egg production.
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics Drugs.โCellular level of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Drugs acting on fluids and electrolyte balance. Drugs acting on the Autonomic nervous system. Modern concepts of anaesthesia and dissociative anaesthetics. Autocoids. Antimicrobials and principles of chemotherapy in microbial infections. Use of hormones in therapeuticsโchemotherapy of parasitic infections. Drug and economic concerns in the Edible tissues of animalsโchemotherapy of Neoplastic diseases. Toxicity due to โinsecticides, plants, metals, non-metals, zootoxins and mycotoxinsโ.
- Veterinary Hygiene concerning Water, Air and Habitation.โAssessment of pollution of water, air and soilโImportance of climate in animal healthโeffect of environment on animal function and performance relationship between industrialisation and animal agricultureโanimal housing requirements for specific categories of domestic animals viz. pregnant cows and sows, milking cows, broiler birdsโstress, strain and productivity to animal habitation.
Animal Diseases
- Aetiology, epidemiology pathogenesis, symptoms, post-more lesions, diagnosis, and control of infectious diseases of cattle, sheep and goats, horses, pigs and poultry.
- Aetiology, epidemiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of production diseases of cattle, horse, pig and poultry.
- Deficiency diseases of domestic animals and birds.
- Diagnosis and treatment of non-specific conditions like impaction, Bloat, diarrhoea, Indigestion, dehydration, stroke, and poisoning.
- Diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders.
- Principles and methods of immunisation of animals against specific diseasesโhard immunityโdisease-free zonesโโzeroโ disease conceptโchemoprophylaxis. Anaesthesia.โlocal, regional and general-prosthetic medication. Symptoms and surgical interference in fractures and dislocation. Hernia, choking abomasal displacementโCaesarian operations. RumenotomyโCastrations.
- Disease investigation techniques.โMaterials for laboratory investigationโEstablishment. Animal Health CentresโDisease-free zone.
Veterinary Public Health
- Zoonoses.โClassification, definition, role of animals and birds in prevalence and transmission of zoonotic diseasesโoccupational zoonotic diseases.
- Epidemiology.โPrinciple, definition of epidemiological terms, application of epidemiological measures in the study of diseases and disease control. Epidemiological features of air, water and foodborne infections. OIE regulation, WTO, sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
- Veterinary Jurisprudence.โRules and Regulations for improvement of animal quality and prevention of animal diseasesโState and Central Rules for prevention of animal and animal product borne diseasesโS.P. C.A.โVeterolegal casesโCertificatesโMaterials and Methods of collection of samples for veterolegal investigation.
Milk and Milk Products Technology
- Market Milk.โQuality, testing and grading of raw milk. Processing, packaging, storing, distribution, marketing defects and their control. Preparation of the following milk: Pasteurized, standardized, toned, double-toned, sterilized, homogenized, reconstituted, recombined and flavoured milk. Preparation of cultured milk, cultures and their management, yoghurt, Dahi, Lassi and Srikhand. Preparation of flavoured and sterilized milk. Legal standards. Sanitation requirement for clean and safe milk and the milk plant equipment.
- Milk Products Technology.โSelection of raw materials, processing, storing, distributing and marketing milk products such as Cream, Butter, Ghee, Khoa, Channa, Cheese, condensed, evaporated, dried milk and baby food, ice cream and Kulfi; by-products, whey products, buttermilk, lactose and casein. Testing, grading, and judging milk productsโBIS and Agmark specifications, legal standards, quality control nutritive properties. Packaging processing and operational control. Costing of dairy products.
The Meat Hygiene and Technology
Meat Hygiene:
- Ante mortem care and management of food animals, stunning, slaughter and dressing operations; abattoir requirements and designs; Meat inspection procedures and judgement of carcass meat cutsโgrading of carcass meat cutsโduties and functions of Veterinarians in wholesome meat production.
- Hygienic methods of handling the production of meat.โSpoilage of meat and control measuresโ Post-slaughter physicochemical changes in meat and factors that influence themโQuality improvement methodsโAdulteration of meat and detectionโRegulatory provisions in Meat trade and Industry.
Meat Technology:
- Physical and chemical characteristics of meat.โMeat emulsionsโMethods of preservation of meatโCuring, canning, irradiation, packaging of meat and meat products, processing and formulations.
By-products: Slaughterhouse by-products and their utilisationโEdible and inedible by-productsโSocial and economic implications of proper utilisation of slaughterhouse by-productsโ Organ products for food and pharmaceuticals.
Poultry Products Technology: Chemical composition and nutritive value of poultry meat, preslaughter care and management. Slaughtering techniques, inspection, and preservation of poultry meat and products. Legal and BIS standards. Structure composition and nutritive value of eggs Microbial spoilage. Preservation and maintenance. Marketing of poultry meat, eggs and products.
Rabbit/Fur Animal Farming: Rabbit meat production. Disposal and utilization of fur and wool and recycling of waste by-products. Grading of wool.
Tips to Prepare for UPSC Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Syllabus
Here are some preparation tips for the UPSC Animal Husbandry subject that candidates can include to ensure their name in the UPSC IAS merit list:-
- Candidates should be familiar with Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science courses. The syllabus is mentioned in detail in the UPSC notification, candidates can also download the syllabus PDF which they can use to track how many topics they have covered.
- The candidates must be aware of the new rules and norms issued by the government related to the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science sector, Economic Survey etc.
