My strategy for Forestry preparation for I.F.S. Examination

I had no background of Forestry what-so-ever before taking the I.F.S. attempt of 2013. Therefore, this article is primarily aimed to help those who are completely new to this subject and want to take it as an optional subject in Indian Forest Service’s Examination.

 

The Choice of Forestry 

In 2012, when there used to be two optional in Civil Services, I had taken the examination with Physics and Geography as my optional subjects. Therefore, in order to take the Indian Forest Service’s Examination in 2013, Physics was my natural choice for 1^st optional. But I had a tough task of choosing another subject as 2^nd optional.

Due to ‘Geography’ background, I had inclination towards Forestry and Geology. First I tried to test the waters of Geology. I bought Brilliant Tutorial Notes of Geology and started surfing the content. Though some part of Paper 1 may be derived from Geography, Paper 2 is completely different, with lots of mineral nomenclature and taxonomy to memorize. I tried for 3 days after which it became amply clear that it would not be possible to prepare Geology as a part time subject; given the fact the G.S. syllabus of Civil Services Examinations had been completely renewed in 2013.

Thereafter, I tried Forestry and I found it, comparatively, much easier to understand along with significantly less factual data to memorize. Notwithstanding the voluminous syllabus of Forestry, the subject- content is straightforward. Therefore, I decided to take up Forestry as my 2^nd optional for I.F.S.

 

Testing Waters

In order to get the gist of the subject and get an overall Bird’s Eye View of the syllabus, I went to Jawahar Book Store, Jia Sarai and got a copy of Indian Forestry by K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu in December 2012.

I read it quickly, yet cover to cover, in around 10 days. The idea was not to have a thorough understanding of the subject but just to get a feel of the content.

It proved extremely helpful as now I was able to identify the important portions of the syllabus to focus upon keeping in mind last 10 year Question Papers of Forestry.

(One more thing, do buy last 10 years Questions Papers of I.F.S. and go through it time to time so as to not to deviate from the core content)

 

Topic-wise Books:

 I began the serious preparation for this subject only after giving Preliminary Examinations held in May 2013. I was confident to crack the Prelims with a decent score; therefore, I did not wait for the result and started preparing soon after.

This is my serious advice to all the aspirants: DO NOT WAIT FOT THE PRELIMS RESULT BEFORE STARTING THE PREPARATION FOR MAINS EXAMINATION. THE MOST CRUCIAL PERIOD GETS WASTED OTHERWISE.

I referred the following books for different portions of the syllabus.

Paper  1

Section A

1) Silviculture – General

•  Principles and Practice of Silviculture      by           L.S. Khanna

(The most important book: Remember numerous examples for each topic. Citing examples fetch more marks)

2) Silviculture – systems

•  Theory and Practice of Silviculture Systems      by      Ram Prakash      L S Khanna

(Only read those systems that are frequently asked) 

3) Silviculture – Mangrove and Cold desert

•  Indian Forestry by K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu 

 4) Silviculture of trees

•  Refer Internet for few of the important trees. Do not waste too much time on this topic.

  

Section B 

1) Agroforestry, Social Forestry, Joint Forest Management and Tribology

•  Agroforestry: Indian Perspective        by          L. K. Jha
• Indian Forestry by K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu 

2) Forest Soils, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management

•  Refer some Coaching institute’s Geography notes 

3) Environmental Conservation and Biodiversity

•  Indian Forestry by K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu
• Follow the material that you use in G.S. for this topic 

 4) Tree Improvement and Seed Technology

•  Indian Forestry by K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu
• Topics like Provenance Trials etc. can be prepared from internet.

 

 Paper  2 

Section A 

1) Forest Management and Management Systems

• Forest Management    by   Prakash Ram

2) Forest Working Plan

• Forest Management    by   Prakash Ram
• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu

3) Forest Mensuration and Remote Sensing

• Forest Mensuration by   Chaturvedi and Khanna

(The preparation for this topic must be more extensive than intensive i.e. do not try to go into details of working of every instrument but try to cover as many ways of measurement as you can)

4) Surveying and Forest Engineering

• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu
• Internet for better understanding of structural designs

 

Section B 

1) Forest Ecology and Ethno-botany

• Handbook of Forest Ecology and Biology by   Sharad Singh Negi
• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu 

2) Forest Resources and Utilization:

• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu

(Try to remember as many examples, along with their scientific names, as you can) 

3) Forest Protection & Wildlife Biology

• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu

(Important topic as these topics are also asked in interview as well as G.K. paper)

4) Forest Economics and Legislation

• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu
• Wikipedia

 

Shortcut

In case you do not find time to go through all these books, a decent preparation can be ensured just by going through the following 4 books:

•  Principles and Practice of Silviculture      by           L.S. Khanna
• Indian Forestry   by    K. Manikandan and S. Prabhu
• Forest Management    by   Prakash Ram
• Forest Mensuration by   Chaturvedi and Khanna

Group Study

 In the last phase of preparation, just two weeks before the exam, we (a group of 6 people) collaboratively divided the topic amongst ourselves and took turns to teach each topic. It was an immensely useful exercise.

 

Mind Maps 

In order to facilitate quick revision just before the exams, I made my notes in the format of mind maps (Forestry Notes). Mind Mapping is a great learning tool which helps to store information in our minds in a non-linear fashion. While depending upon linkages of different topics, it enhances retentively.  It’s a tool worth exploring.

 

I sincerely wish good luck to all the candidates who want to appear in I.F.S. Examination. All the Best.