Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts IFS exam to recruit eligible candidates to the Indian Forest Service (IFS). The exam is highly competitive since the post in IFS is highly demanding and hence only well prepared candidates can get through the examination.

Syllabus for IFS Exam

General English

• Sentence Formation
• Direct& Indirect speech
• Passages and essays
• Vocabulary
• Verbs and Proverbs
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Adverbs
• Nouns

General Knowledge

• Current affairs
• Political System
• Indian Constitution
• History of India and its Geographies

Agriculture

• Water-use efficiency and Farm Management
• Marketing of Agricultural Products
• Natural Resources
• Agricultural extension
• Ecology
• Soil Properties

Statistics

• Probability
• Sampling Theory and Design of Experiments
• Demography and Psychometry
• Statistical Inference
• Industrial Statistics
• Optimization Techniques
• Linear Inference and Multivariate Analysis
• Sample Quantitative Economics and Official Statistics

Agricultural Engineering

• Agro-energy and Agricultural Process Engineering
• Farm Power and machinery
• Soil and Water Conservation
• Irrigation and Drainage
• Agricultural Structures
• Instrumentation and Computer Applications in Agricultural Engineering
• Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing

Mechanical Engineering

• Manufacturing management
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
• Manufacturing Science
• Theory of Machines
• Thermodynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Turbo-Machines and Power Plants
• I.C. Engines
• Mechanics of Solids
• Elements of Computation
• Fuels and Combustion
• Engineering Materials

Botany

• Botany subject includes
• Ecology and Plant Geography
• Cell Biology
• Morphogenesis
• Cryptogams
• Microbiology and Plant Pathology
• Plant Utility and Exploitation
• Evolution
• Physiology and Biochemistry
• Phanerogams
• Plant Breeding

Zoology

• Ecology
• Physiology
• Evolution
• Developmental Biology
• Genetics
• Non-chordata and chordata
• Cell Biology
• Systematics
• Biochemistry
• Ethology
• Economic
• Instrumental methods
• Biostatistics

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

• Animal Diseases and Veterinary Public Health
• Animal Physiology
• Animal Nutrition
• Livestock Production and Management
• Health and Hygiene
• Genetics and Animal Breeding

Mathematics

• Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics
• Analytic Geometry
• Numerical Analysis and Computer programming
• Calculus
• Basic concepts of Linear Algebra
• Ordinary Differential Equations
• Dynamics

Algebra

• Complex Analysis
• Linear Programming
• Partial differential equations
• Statics and Hydrostatics
• Real Analysis
• Vector Analysis

Chemistry

• Photochemistry
• Chemical Bonding
• Thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical Kinetics
• Bio-inorganic Chemistry
• Reactive Intermediates
• Synthetic uses of reagents
• Principles of Spectroscopy and Applications in Structure Elucidation
• Surface Phenomena and Catalysis
• Atomic Structure
• Polymeric Systems

Physics

• Electronics
• Thermal and Statistical Physics
• Nuclear Physics
• Quantum Mechanics II & Atomic Physics
• Special Relativity
• Waves & Geometrical Optics
• Physical Optics
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Classical Mechanics
• Particle Physics & Solid State Physics
• Quantum Mechanics I
• Electromagnetic Theory & Black Body Radiation

Chemical Engineering

• Chemical Reaction Engineering
• Process Dynamics and Control
• Process Equipment Design
• Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
• Chemical Technology and Process Engineering Economics
• Mass Transfer
• Material and Energy Balances

Geology

• Stratigraphy and Geology of India
• Structural geology
• Sedimentology
• Mining Geology
• Paleontology
• General Geology
• Mineralogy
• Geomorphology and Remote Sensing
• Igneous ad Metamorphic Petrology
• Geochemistry and Environmental Geology
• Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology
• Economic Geology

Forestry

• Silviculture
• Silviculture - systems
• Silviculture - Mangrove and Cold desert
• Silviculture of trees
• Social Forestry
• Agro forestry
• Joint Forest Management and Tribology
• Forest Soils
• Soil Conservation and Watershed Management
• Tree Improvement and Seed Technology
• Forest Management and Management Systems
• Forest Protection & Wildlife Biology
• Forest Economics and Legislation
• Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity
• Forest Ecology and Ethno botany

Question Pattern of IFS Exam

The IFS exam consists of 6 papers for which a total of 1400 marks are allotted. General English and General Knowledge are the 2 compulsory sections for which 300 marks each is allotted. There are 14 optional subjects including agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal husbandry & veterinary science, chemistry, civil engineering, geology, mathematics, botany, mechanical engineering, forestry, physics, chemical engineering, zoology and statistics from which 2 subjects have to be selected. There will be 2 papers from each of the electives allotting 200 marks for each.