AG covers mathematics, farm machinery and power, soil and water conservation, irrigation and drainage, agricultural processing, and dairy and food engineering.

Agricultural Engineering is tested within a 100-mark paper. The paper also includes General Aptitude. The sections below show the complete subject syllabus.

GATE AG Syllabus and Marks Distribution

There is no optional subject block in this paper. All listed sections are part of the syllabus.

Agricultural Engineering Unit-wise Syllabus

Engineering Mathematics

• Linear Algebra: Matrices and determinants, linear and orthogonal transformations, Caley Hamilton theorem; Eigen values and Eigen vectors, solutions of linear equations.
• Calculus: Limit, continuity and differentiability; partial derivatives; homogeneous function – Euler’s theorem on homogeneous functions, total differentiation; maxima and minima of function with several independent variables; sequences and series – infinite series, tests for convergence; Fourier, Taylor and MacLaurin series.
• Vector Calculus: Vector differentiation, scalar and vector point functions, vector differential operators – del, gradient; divergence and curl; physical interpretations-line, surface and volume integrals; Stokes, Gauss and Green’s theorems.
• Differential Equations: Linear and non -linear first order Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE); homogeneous differential equations, higher order linear ODEs with constant coefficients; Laplace transforms and their inverse; Partial Differential Equations - Laplace, heat and wave equations.
• Probability and Statistics: Mean, median, mode and standard deviation; random variables; Poisson, normal and binomial distributions; correlation and regression analysis.
• Numerical Methods: Solutions of linear and non-linear algebraic equations; numerical integration - trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule; numerical solutions of ODEs.

Farm Machinery

• Machine Design: Design and selection of machine elements – gears, pulleys, chains and sprockets and belts; overload safety devices used in farm machinery; measurement of force, stress, torque, speed, displacement and acceleration on machine elements - shafts, couplings, keys, bearings and knuckle joints.
• Farm Machinery: Soil tillage; forces acting on a tillage tool; hitch systems and hitching of tillage implements; functional requirements, principles of working, construction and operation of manual, animal, tractor and renewable energy operated equipment for tillage, sowing, planting, fertilizer application, inter -cultivation, spraying, mowing, chaff cutting, harvesting and threshing, calculation of performance parameters - field capacity, efficiency, performance index, application rate and losses; cost analysis of implements and tractors, equipment for precision agriculture.

Farm Power

• Sources of Power: Sources of power on the farm — human, animal, mechanical, electrical, wind, solar and biomass; bio-fuels and their use in farm mechanization.
• Farm Power: Thermodynamic principles of I.C. engines; I.C. engine cycles; engine components; fuels and combustion; lubricants and their properties; I.C. engine systems – fuel, cooling, lubrication, ignition, electrical, intake and exhaust; selection, operation, maintenance and repair of I.C. engines; power efficiencies and measurement, engine performance curves; calculation of power, torque, fuel consumption, heat load and power losses;
• Tractors and Power tillers: Type, selection, maintenance and repair of tractors and power tillers; tractor clutches and brakes; power transmission systems – gear trains, differential, final drives and power take -off;
• mechanics of tractor chassis; traction theory; three point hitches - free link and restrained link operations; steering and hydraulic control systems used in tractors; tractor tests and performance; human engineering and safety considerations in design of tractor and agricultural implements.

Soil and Water Conservation Engineering

• Fluid Mechanics: Ideal and real fluids, properties of fluids; hydrostatic pressure and its measurement; continuity equation, kinematics and dynamics of flow; Bernoulli’s theorem; laminar and turbulent flow in pipes, Darcy- Weisbach and Hazen -Williams equations; flow through orifices, weirs and notches; flow in open channels, dimensional analysis – concepts of geometric dimensionless numbers.
• Soil Mechanics: Engineering properties of soils; fundamental definitions and relationships; index properties of soils; permeability and seepage analysis; shear strength, Soil compaction and Proctor test, Mohr’s circle of stress, active and passive earth pressures; stability of slopes, Terzaghi’s one dimensional soil consolidation theory.
• Hydrology: Hydrological cycle and measurement of its components; meteorological parameters and their measurement; analysis of precipitation data; runoff estimation; hydrograph analysis, unit hydrograph theory and application; stream flow measurement; flood routing, hydrological reservoir and channel routing, Infiltration – indices and equations, drought and its classification.
• Surveying and Leveling: Measurement of distance and area; instruments for surveying and levelling; chain surveying, methods of traversing; measurement of angles and bearings, plane table surveying; types of levelling; the Theodolite traversing; contouring; total station, introduction to GPS survey, computation of areas and volume.
• Soil and Water Erosion: Mechanics of soil erosion - wind and water erosion: soil erosion types, factors affecting erosion; soil loss estimation; biological and engineering measures to control erosion; terraces and bunds; vegetative waterways; gully control structures, drop, drop inlet and chute spillways; earthen dams.
• Watershed Management: Watershed characterization and land use capability classification; water budgeting in watershed, rainwater harvesting, check dams and farm ponds.

Irrigation and Drainage Engineering

• Soil-Water-Plant Relationship: Water requirement of crops; consumptive use and evapotranspiration; measurement of infiltration, soil moisture and irrigation water infiltration.
• Irrigation Water Conveyance and Application Methods: Design of irrigation channels and underground pipelines; irrigation scheduling; surface, sprinkler and micro irrigation methods, design and evaluation of irrigation methods; irrigation efficiencies.
• Agricultural Drainage: Drainage coefficient; planning, design and layout of surface and sub- surface drainage systems; leaching requirement and salinity control; irrigation and drainage water quality and reuse; non - conventional drainage system.
• Groundwater Hydrology: Groundwater occurrence; ground water movement; Darcy’s Law, steady and unsteady flow in confined and unconfined aquifers, groundwater exploration techniques; overview of groundwater recharge estimation and artificial recharge techniques.
• Wells and Pumps: Types of wells, steady flow through wells; design and construction of water wells; classification of pumps; pump characteristics; pump selection and installation.

Agricultural Process Engineering

• Engineering properties of agriculture produce: Physical, thermal, frictional, rheological and electrical properties.
• Evaporation and Drying: Concentration and drying of liquid foods – evaporators, tray, drum and spray dryers; osmotic dehydration and freeze drying; hydrothermal treatments; drying and milling of cereals, pulses and oilseeds; drying kinetics; psychrometry – properties of air-water vapor mixture.
• Size Reduction and Material Handling: Mechanics and energy requirement in size reduction of agriculture produce; particle size analysis for comminuted solids; size separation by screening; fluidization of granular solids-pneumatic, bucket, screw and belt conveying; cleaning and grading; effectiveness of separation; centrifugal separation of solids, liquids and gases; homogenization; filtration and membrane separation.
• Processing of Agriculture Produce: Processing of seeds, spices, fruits and vegetables; value addition of agriculture produce.
• Storage Systems: Controlled and modified atmosphere storage; perishable food storage, godowns, bins and grain silos, packaging material and machines.

Dairy and Food Engineering

• Heat and Mass Transfer: Steady state heat transfer in conduction, convection and radiation; transient heat transfer in simple geometry; working principles of heat exchangers; diffusive and convective mass transfer; simultaneous heat and mass transfer in agricultural processing op erations; material and energy balances in food processing systems; water activity, sorption and desorption isotherms.
• Unit operations in Dairy and Food engineering: Blanching, homogenization, pasteurization, sterilization.
• Preservation of Food: Kinetics of microbial death – pasteurization and sterilization of milk and other liquid foods; preservation of food by cooling and freezing; refrigeration and cold storage basics and applications.

General Aptitude Syllabus

General Aptitude contributes 15 marks within the 100-mark paper. It is not an additional paper that can be left out when choosing the technical sections.

Chapter-wise Weightage and Important Topics

Only the section-wise marks are fixed. IIT Madras has not assigned a guaranteed number of marks to each chapter of Agricultural Engineering. A topic may appear in one year and receive fewer questions in another; a past-paper count is not an official 2027 weightage.

For a chapter-weightage comparison, record the year, paper code, session, question number and marks of each matching question. Keep a combined question under one main topic or label the overlap explicitly; counting it twice inflates the total. GATE previous-year question papers can be used for this topic-by-topic practice.

Question Types and Negative Marking

The paper uses one-mark and two-mark questions. The number of MCQ, MSQ and NAT questions is not a fixed chapter-wise quota. In an MSQ, selecting one correct option is not enough when the correct answer contains two options.