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Food Science Daily Exams

Exam resources

ICAR Agricultural Research Service (ARS) — Food Science & Technology

ASRB conducts the Agricultural Research Service exam to recruit scientists into ICAR institutes, with Food Science & Technology as one discipline stream, through a Preliminary, Main and Interview process.

Previous paper
1
Full mocks
26
Sectionals
86

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) examination recruits entry-level Scientists into ICAR research institutes, and Food Technology is one of its disciplines. The process has a qualifying computer-based preliminary test, a descriptive main examination and a personal interview. Selection is made against advertised vacancies in each discipline.

Conducted by
Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), for ICAR
ASRB official site (opens on the official site) ARS-2025 notification (archived copy) (opens on the official site)

Who can apply

For ARS-2025, Food Technology applicants needed a relevant master's degree, completed by 30.09.2025, and had to be aged 21 to under 32 on 01.08.2025. Age relaxation applies to specified categories.

  • Master's degree in Food Science / Food Technology / Food Science and Technology / Post Harvest Technology (discipline 55)
  • Age 21 to under 32 on 01.08.2025; upper limit relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC-NCL and 10 years for PwBD
  • Ph.D. holders get a further 3 years if the Ph.D. is held by the master's cut-off date; ICAR staff under 45 and agricultural-university staff under 35 may also apply
  • Candidates must be citizens of India, or belong to one of the other nationality categories the rules list
  • Fee (2025): Rs 1,000 UR, Rs 800 EWS/OBC, nil for SC/ST/PwBD/women/transgender

A summary. Confirm the details in the current notice.

Source: ASRB ARS-2025 notification, Annexures VI-VIII (archived copy) ↗. Checked 2026-09-26.

Based on past papers, not an official scheme. Confirm in the current notice.

Marking scheme

Preliminary: +1 for a correct answer, −1/3 for a wrong answer (as reported; ASRB's own notice could not be reached). An unanswered question scores zero. Our mocks for this exam are scored the same way.

Source: Reported, pw.live ↗

No year-wise ARS cut-off for Food Science & Technology has been published that we could find. The ARS Preliminary is a qualifying stage with a fixed minimum standard; reaching it takes you to the Mains. The figures are as reported; ASRB's own site could not be reached to confirm them.

Category-wise cut-off marks by year
Year Stage UR EWS / OBC SC / ST / PwBD Source
Every year Preliminary, minimum qualifying marks (out of 150), fixed by ASRB 67.5 (45%) 60 (40%) 52.5 (35%) Reported, PW (pw.live) ↗

Free PDFs and recommended books for ICAR ARS. How we choose

Free PDFs

12 free PDFs

Processing & preservation

FSSAI

Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods — Cereal and Cereal Products (2022)

Official analytical methods for cereals and flours.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

NCERT

Class 12 Human Ecology & Family Sciences — Food Processing and Technology

A plain-language overview of preservation and processing.

Free PDF · ncert.nic.in

Food safety & law

FSSAI

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (full text)

The core food law behind every CFSO, TO and Food Analyst law paper.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

FSSAI

Manual for Food Safety Officers — A Ready Reckoner

FSSAI's own handbook of a Food Safety Officer's hygiene and enforcement duties.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

FSSAI

Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods — Spices and Condiments

Official methods for spice quality and adulterant detection.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

FSSAI

Compendium — Food Additives Regulations (December 2022)

Consolidated legal limits for additives by food category.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

Food chemistry

FSSAI

Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods — Oils and Fats

Official methods for acid, iodine and saponification values and related tests.

Free PDF · fssai.gov.in

Food microbiology

Exam-specific preparation

1 resource

Competitive guide

Competitive Book of Food Science and Technology for JRF, SRF, NET

Objective preparation book aimed at ICAR-JRF, SRF.

Reading suggestion

Core food technology

4 resources

Core food technology

Textbook of Food Science and Technology (ICAR)

Indian food technology baseline for processing, preservation, chemistry.

Reading suggestion

Core food technology

Food Science by B. Srilakshmi

Useful for food chemistry, nutrition, preservation.

Reading suggestion

Microbiology

Food Microbiology by M. R. Adams and M. O. Moss

Strong reference for spoilage, pathogens, fermentation.

Reading suggestion

Food engineering

Food Process Engineering and Technology by Zeki Berk

Good engineering reference for heat transfer, dehydration, freezing.

Reading suggestion

Free channels worth following for ICAR ARS.

YouTube channels

3 channels

Official

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

ICAR's official channel — institutional news, events.

Watch on YouTube

University/NPTEL

Fundamentals of Food Process Engineering — IIT Kharagpur (Prof. Jayeeta Mitra)

A full IIT lecture course on rheology, heat and mass transfer.

Watch on YouTube

Full topic list and section weightage ICAR ARS syllabus and exam pattern

Free access

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Tests for this exam

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