IBPS AFO study guide
IBPS AFO · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
IBPS AFO refers to the Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I) post recruited through the Common Recruitment Process for Specialist Officers conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. IBPS describes itself as "an autonomous body, created to assist organisations in selection of personnel at various levels," and it runs a dedicated CRP Specialist Officers stream alongside its RRB, Clerk and PO/MT streams, with the current cycle labelled CRP-SPL-XVI. The IBPS AFO study guide has 5 sections and about 1,853 words.
01Agriculture: Agronomy, Soil Science and Crop Protection for AFO
The Agriculture section is the professional-knowledge core of IBPS AFO. It covers agronomy and crop production, soil science and soil fertility, horticulture, plant breeding and seed technology, entomology and plant pathology, agricultural economics, extension education, and allied sectors such as animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.
401 words, about 2 min02English Language: Grammar Anchors, RC Strategy and Error Spotting
The English Language paper carries reading comprehension, grammar and usage, and vocabulary. The standard question mix is an RC passage with 8–10 questions, a cloze test or fillers, error detection or sentence improvement, para jumbles, and word usage/word swap items.
363 words, about 2 min03Quantitative Aptitude: Speed Methods and Data Interpretation
Numerical Ability tests simplification and approximation, number series, percentage, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time–work, time–speed–distance, mensuration, elementary probability, and one or two data interpretation sets (tabular, bar, pie or caselet). The paper rewards method selection: most questions are solvable in under a minute with the right shortcut.
354 words, about 2 min04Reasoning Ability: Syllogisms, Puzzles and Inequality
Reasoning Ability covers syllogism, puzzles and seating arrangement (linear, circular, floor, box), inequality, coding–decoding, blood relations, direction sense, order and ranking, alphanumeric series, and data sufficiency. Puzzles carry the most marks and the most time; syllogism and inequality are the fastest scoring clusters.
374 words, about 2 min05General and Banking Awareness: RBI, Credit Institutions and Rural Finance
This section blends banking awareness with general and financial awareness relevant to agriculture. Core areas are the Reserve Bank of India and monetary policy, types of accounts and loans, priority sector lending, rural credit institutions (NABARD, RRBs, cooperative banks), financial inclusion schemes, and current affairs of the last six to eight months.
361 words, about 2 min