ARS 2019/2020 NET Exam: Notification, Exam Date, How To Prepare

ARS 2019/2020 – Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) holds the ARS exam for the purpose of recruitment of Scientists in Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). ICAR is the autonomous organization that is responsible for looking after agricultural education and research in India. ARS 2019/2020 notification is expected to be released by ASRB / ICAR. This exam consists of prelims, mains, and viva voce. The ARS Prelims is held combined with ASRB NET exam. Therefore syllabus of ARS NET prelims and ASRB NET are common. Know here all about ARS 2019/2020 such as eligibility, syllabus, exam pattern, and how to prepare.

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ARS 2019/2020

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ICAR compiles all the vacancies for Scientists in Agricultural Research Service and then ARS exam is held. Last time there were 195 vacancies. Since there is no fixed schedule for conduct of ARS on a yearly basis, therefore ARS 2019/2020 dates will be updated here as and when they are announced by ICAR/ASRB.

ARS 2019/2020	Important Dates
Release of ARS 2019/ ASRB 2020 notification	To be announced
Start of online registration	To be announced
Last date to apply online	To be announced
Date of ARS 2019/2020 prelims exam	To be announced
Date of ARS 2019/2020 mains exam	To be announced

Salary of scientists Agricultural Research Service in ICAR

Candidates who get the position of scientist in Agricultural Research Service in ICAR are in the Pay Band-III of ₹15,600-39,100 plus Research Grade Pay of ₹ 6,000/-.

ARS 2019/2020 Eligibility Criteria

Every year several candidates become Masters degree holders in agriculture related courses. For them, ARS is an ideal career option. Thus without further ado, you should check the eligibility criteria to determine if you are eligible and start preparing for the exam if yes!

Educational Qualification

You should have Masters Degree or equivalent from a recognized university. Scroll down to the end of the article to know which discipline and which courses are acceptable.

Age limit

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You should be between 21 to 32 years of age as on cut off date prescribed by ASRB. However PhD degree holders can be 35 years old. Here it is relevant to note the applicable relaxations in upper age.

Category of candidate	Age Relaxable Upto
SC/ST	5 years
OBC	3 years
Divyang	10 years
Domiciled in JnK during 1 Jan 1980 to 31 Dec 1989	5 years

Number of attempts

Unreserved category candidates can appear in ARS exam for a maximum of 6 times.
OBC and Divyang candidates can appear in it for 9 times.
SC and ST candidates do not have attempts limit applicable on them.

Important notes regarding attempts limit

Please note that attempts before ARS exam 2011 shall not be counted.
Also note that attempting prelims exam is counted as attempt.

As per this, are you eligible? If yes, then read on to know how will you have to apply when ARS 2019/2020 application form is available.

ARS 2019/2020 Application Form

Even though no information is available on the exam, it is clear that form shall be online. This will once again make the registration process simple for all aspirants. Just make sure that you have your documents handy so that you can fill all correct information in the ARS Application Form.

Application Fee

Last time application fee was as follows.

S.No.	Category of candidate	Only ARS	Only NET	Both Exams
1	UR	500	1000	1500
2	OBC	500	500	1000
3	SC / ST / Divyang / Women	0	250	250

How To Apply?

Well the actual steps will be available when ARS Application Form becomes available. But until then no harm is done if you take a peek at the steps that had to be followed last time, so that you can get an idea of what steps to expect this time.

First of all candidates have to visit official website that is asrb.org.in.
Then they have to locate the apply online link and click it.
From there onwards, it is a completely online process which starts with filling your personal details.
Then you have to fill details like exam centre choice, educational qualification, and so on.
After that there will be a step where you have to upload your photograph and signature as per specifications.
Finally you have to pay the application fee.

Candidates may note that if for some reason they have to fill another form, then they will have to use another email ID. This is because in one database, there can only be one email ID.

Selection Process

The selection process in ARS comprises of three stages:

ARS Preliminary Exam: Only qualifying in nature
ARS Mains Exam: Will have a cut off and its marks will be counted for merit
Viva Voce: Will have a cut off and its marks will be counted for merit

ARS Preliminary Exam

All candidates who apply for ARS 2019/2020 will be able to appear in prelims, provided they download admit card. As mentioned above, it will be held commonly with ASRB NET. The scheme of exam shall be as follows.

It will be a single paper of 150 marks.
All questions will be objective.
Duration of exam will be 2 hours.
Exam will be held in online computer based test format.
Questions will be framed in English as well as Hindi.
Candidates will get 1 mark for every correct answer, and 1/3 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer (negative marking).
This exam will only be qualifying in nature.

On basis of result of ARS 2019/2020 of preliminary exam, by obtaining cut off marks, candidates equal to 15 times the number of vacancies will be shortlisted for mains.

Please note: Since exam is online computer based, and there are limited computer centres, therefore exams with multiple sets of questions may be held for some disciplines. ASRB may then at its discretion use equi-percentile method in such cases for normalization.

Minimum Qualifying Marks

Category	Min Qualifying Marks
UR	67.5 (45%)
OBC	60 (40%)
SC/ST/Divyang	52.5 (35%)

ARS Mains Exam

Now all candidates who qualify in Prelims will be called for Mains. Scheme of the same will be as follows.

Key highlights of ARS Mains Exam

It will be a single paper of 240 marks.
Duration of exam will be 3 hours.

Exam pattern is as follows

Part	No. of qs	Marks per qs	Total Marks
A	40	2	80
B	20	5	100
C	6	10	60
Total	66	–	240

Description of Parts

Part-A will have short answer type questions. Answers have to be written in at most 10 words.

Part-B will have questions with answers to be written in one to two paras. Some may also need graphic explanation.

Part-C will be essay type questions. Some questions may also have two or more parts.

Viva Voce

Now those candidates who get cut off score in Mains will be called for Viva Voce. The number of candidates to be called for viva voce on basis of result of ARS 2019/2020 Mains exam will be equal to 5 times the number of vacancies.

Highlights of viva voce

It will be taken by a group of competent and unbiased experts in respective disciplines.
Purpose of viva voce will be to assess suitability of candidate for the service.
Technique of the viva voce will not be of a strict cross examination, rather it will be natural and directed purposeful conversation.
Candidates will be tested on their curiosity, critical thinking, decision making, presence of mind, social skills, character, scientific bent of mind.

Tie Breaking

If two or more candidates get same marks (in ARS Mains + Viva Voce), then ASRB will implement the tie breaking process. Tie between candidates will be broken by following method.

Candidate with more marks in mains exam will get higher rank.
If tie persists then candidate who is older in age will get higher rank.

ARS Examination Syllabus

ASRB has prescribed the ARS exam syllabus for prelims as well as mains. Candidates must take note of the same as it is the first step in preparation. PDF files containing syllabus, discipline wise, are as follows.

How To Prepare for ARS 2019/2020

If you have decided to appear in ARS NET exam, and checked that you are eligible for it, then now is the right time to start preparations! Here are some important tips for ARS preparation.

You should first of all check the syllabus and exam pattern of ICAR NET / ARS exam.
Now study the theoretical concepts of all topics from the books you used during Masters Degree.
If you are confused on what books to use, see the best books for the discipline. However, even then you get a long list and ultimately you have to decide which book to refer by checking which author’s writing style you are most comfortable with.
Another hint on a good book is the one that makes your basics clear.
Then it comes to putting your knowledge to practice – which you have to do by practicing Multiple Choice Questions.
Practice some MCQs daily on the topic you studied that day.
Then at regular intervals, practice from past year papers of ARS exam, sample tests, mock tests.
Last but not the least, be calm and focused throughout the preparation. And believe in yourself that you can do it!