National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development or NABARD is the apex development financial institution in India that caters to the needs of the rural population by providing credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in India. Being one of the popular banks in the country, NABARD recruitment attracts thousands of youths every year who aspires to join the banking sector. The bank engages eligible candidates both on a regular and contractual basis. NABARD conducts regular basis recruitment to fill up the posts in Group A, B, and C.

NABARD Recruitment to Group A post is conducted for Rural Development Banking Service (RDBS), Protocol & Security Service (P&SS), Rajbhasha and Legal. This is also one of the popular exams conducted by NABARD. The selection for RDBS post is done based on the preliminary exam, mains exam, and interview.

NABARD Recruitment Overview

NABARD Recruitment Dates

NABARD Vacancy

NABARD Recruitment 2021 Eligibility Criteria

Age Limit For NABARD Grade A/B(as on 01/07/2021)

Age Limit for NABARD Grade A: Candidates age should be in between 21 to 30 years as on 01.07.2021. i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 02-07-1991 and not later than 01-07-2000.

Age Limit for NABARD Officers in Grade ‘A’ (P & SS): Candidates age should be in between 25 to 40 years as on 01.07.2021, i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 01-07-1981 and not later than 01-07-1996.

Age Limit for NABARD Grade B: Candidates age should be in between 25 to 32 years as on 01.07.2021, i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 02-07-1989 and not later than 01-07-1996.

Educational Qualification for NABARD Grade A & B (as on 01/07/2021)

NABARD Grade A Prelims Exam

Exam Pattern for NABARD Grade-A,

Grade A Mains Exam

NABARD Grade B Prelims Exam

NABARD Grade B Mains Exam

NABARD 2020 Syllabus

NABARD Grade A Assistant Manager Phase I (Preliminary) Syllabus

Quantitative Aptitude: Data Interpretation; Quadratic Equations; Number Series; Simplification/Approximation; Data Sufficiency; Miscellaneous Arithmetic Questions

Reasoning Ability: Puzzles; Syllogism; Data Sufficiency; State-based questions; Inequality; Miscellaneous Questions; Input-Out; Blood Relations

English Language: Reading Comprehension; Sentence Rearrangement; Spotting the Errors; Fill in the Blanks; Cloze Test; Sentence Improvement

General Awareness: Current Affairs; Banking; Economy; Insurance

Computer Knowledge: History of Computer & Generations; Networking; Shortcuts; MS Office; Input-output Devices; Internet

NABARD Grade A Assistant Manager Phase II (Main) Syllabus

Paper I

The main examination will have objective as well as descriptive type tests in English. The descriptive test will check the candidates’ expertise in written English. It will comprise précis writing, report writing, essay writing, comprehension, paragraph writing, etc. Other than that there is a personal interview segment to be conducted to select adroit professionals. The descriptive test is also conducted through online mode where candidates are required to type the answers through the keyboard. The marks distribution for different topics is as under:

• Essay Writing (40 Marks)
• Precis Writing (20 Marks)
• Reading Comprehension Questions (20 Marks)
• Report/ Letter Writing (20 Marks)

Paper-II (RDBS - General Discipline)

Economic & Social Issues

Nature of Indian Economy - Structural and Institutional features, Opening up the Indian Economy, Economic underdevelopment, Economic Reforms in India, Globalisation, Privatisation.

Inflation - Trends in Inflation & their Impact on National Economy and Individual Income.

Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India - Rural and Urban, Measurement of Poverty, Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the Government.

Population Trends - Population Growth and Economic Development, Population Policy in India.

Agriculture - Characteristics/ Status, Agricultural performance, Technical and Institutional changes in Indian Agriculture, Issues in Food Security in India, Non-Institutional and Institutional Agencies in rural credit.

Industry - Industrial and Labour Policy, Industrial performance, Regional Imbalance in India's Industrial Development, Public Sector Enterprises.

Rural banking and financial institutions in India - Reforms in Banking/ Financial sector.

The globalisation of Economy - Role of International Funding Institutions, WTO, IMF & World Bank, Regional Economic Cooperation.

Social Structure in India - Multiculturalism, Demographic trends, Gender Issues Joint family system, Urbanisation and Migration, Social Infrastructure, Education, Health and Environment.

Education - Status & System of Education, Educational relevance and educational wastage, Socio-economic Problems associated with Illiteracy, Educational Policy for India.

Social Justice: Problems of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, socio-economic programmes for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

Positive Discrimination in favour of the underprivileged - Social Movements, Indian Political Systems, Human Development. Current Economic & Social Issues.

Agriculture & Rural Development

Agriculture: definition, meaning and its branches, Agronomy: definition, meaning and scope of agronomy. Classification of field crops. Factors affecting crop production, Cropping Systems: Definition and types of cropping systems. Agro Climatic Zones; Problems of dryland agriculture; seed processing, seed production, seed village; Meteorology: weather parameters, crop-weather advisory; Precision Farming, System of Crop Intensification, organic farming;

1. Soil and Water Conservation: Major soil types, soil fertility, soil erosion, fertilisers, soil conservation, watershed management;
2. Water Resource: Irrigation Management: types of irrigation, sources of irrigation, crop-water requirement, water conservation techniques, command area development, micro-irrigation, irrigation pumps, major, medium and minor irrigation.
3. Farm and Agri Engineering: Farm Machinery and Power, Sources of power on the farm- human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and biomass, biofuels, water harvesting structures, farm ponds, watershed management, Agro-Processing, Controlled and modified storage, perishable food storage, godowns, bins and grain silos.
4. Plantation & Horticulture: Definition, meaning and its branches. Agronomic practices and production technology of various plantation and horticulture crops. Post-harvest management, value and supply chain management of Plantation and Horticulture crops.
5. Animal Husbandry: Farm animals and their role in the Indian economy, Animal husbandry methods in India, common terms about different species of livestock, Utility classification of breeds of cattle. Introduction to common feeds and fodders, their classification and utility.

Introduction to the poultry industry in India (past, present and future status), Common terms about poultry production and management. Concept of mixed farming and its relevance to socio-economic conditions of farmers in India. Complimentary and obligatory nature of livestock and poultry production with that of agricultural farming.

6. Fisheries: Fisheries resources, management and exploitation - freshwater, brackish water and marine; Aquaculture- Inland and marine; biotechnology; post-harvest technology. Importance of fisheries in India. Common terms about fish production.
7. Forestry: Basic concepts of Forest and Forestry. Principles of silviculture, forest mensuration, forest management and forest economics. Concepts of social forestry, agroforestry, joint forest management. Forest policy and legislation in India, India State of Forest Report 2015. Recent developments under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 
8. Agriculture Extensions: Its importance and role, methods of evaluation of extension programmes, Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendra's (KVK) in the dissemination of Agricultural technologies.
9. Ecology and Climate Change: Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Causes of climate change, GreenHouse Gases (GHG), major GHG emitting countries, climate analysis, distinguish between adaptation and mitigation, climate change impact to agriculture and rural livelihood, carbon credit, IPCC, UNFCCC, CoP meetings, funding mechanisms for climate change projects, initiatives by Govt of India, NAPCC, SAPCC, INDC
10. Present Scenario of Indian Agriculture and Allied activities; recent trends, major challenges in agriculture measures to enhance the viability of agriculture. Factors of Production in agriculture; Agricultural Finance and Marketing; Impact of Globalization on Indian Agriculture and issues of Food Security; Concept and Types of Farm Management.

Rural Development: Concept of Rural Area, Structure of the Indian Rural EconomyImportance and role of the rural sector in India- Economic, Social and Demographic Characteristics of the Indian rural economy, causes of Rural Backwardness. Rural population in India; Occupational structure, Farmers, Agricultural Labourers, Artisans, Handicrafts, Traders, Forest dwellers/tribes and others in rural India- Trends of change in rural population and rural workforce; problems and conditions of rural labour; Issues and challenges in Handlooms. Panchayati Raj Institutions – Functions and Working. MGNREGA, NRLM – Aajeevika, Rural Drinking water Programmes, Swachh Bharat, Rural Housing, PURA and other rural development programmes

The syllabus for specialised Disciplines of Paper-II Grade A (RDBS/ Rajbhasha/ Legal) is uploaded at the official website. Candidates can download the same as per their preferred discipline. 

NABARD Development Assistant Syllabus

English Language: English Proficiency, English Usage Errors, Descriptive (Essay, Precis, Letter/ Report Writing)

Numerical Ability: Date Interpretation, Percentage, Mixture and allegations, Problems on Ages, Simple Interest/ Compound Interest, Time and Work, Profit and Loss, Averages, Time Speed and Distance, Ratio & Proportions, Number System, HCF & LCM and Simplification

General Awareness: Current Affairs – National & International, Union Budget, Sports, Important Financial & Economic News, Five Year Plans, Banking and Finance, Awards and Honours, Science – Inventions & Discoveries, Books and Authors, Capitals and Currency, Business and Economy, Famous Personalities, Days and Dates, Films and Entertainment, Famous Places, History, Geography Governance, Indian Politics, International Current Affairs, Abbreviations, National Current Affairs, Important Days and International & National Organizations

Reasoning: Directions, Coding-Decoding, Analogies, Verbal/Non-Verbal Series, Calendars & Clocks, Ranking of Numbers, Dice and Cube, Mirror Images, Arithmetical Reasoning, Blood Relations and Number Series

Computer Knowledge: Computer Fundamentals, Operating System, MS Excel, MS Word, Internet, MS Power-Point – Presentation and Windows

NABARD 2021 Cut Off