IBPS Specialist Officer Agricultural Field Officer Examination

The IBPS Specialist Officer Agricultural Field Officer examination is the Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I) stream within IBPS’s Common Recruitment Process for Specialist Officers (CRP-SPL). IBPS conducts the online examination stages and coordinates the process, while participating banks conduct the common interview through nodal-bank arrangements.

For the CRP-SPL-XVI cycle, the process is intended for participating-bank vacancies in financial year 2027–28. IBPS states that notified vacancies are indicative and that eventual provisional allotment depends on actual vacancies reported by participating banks.

• This is a specialist-officer banking recruitment route, not an agricultural university entrance examination.
• A successful candidate is provisionally allotted to a participating bank; the bank subsequently controls appointment, document verification, joining terms, and posting decisions.

For CRP-SPL-XVI, applicants must be at least 20 and not more than 30 years old as of 1 July 2026, subject to the notification’s category-specific age relaxations and other conditions.

The required qualification is a four-year graduation degree from a Government of India-recognised or regulator-approved institution in a specifically listed discipline: Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Dairy Science, Fishery Science, Pisciculture, Agricultural Marketing and Cooperation, Co-operation and Banking, Agro-Forestry, Forestry, Agricultural Biotechnology, B.Tech Biotechnology, Food Science, Agriculture Business Management, Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Agricultural Engineering, Sericulture, or Fisheries Engineering. The final result must have been declared by 21 July 2026.

For posts other than IT Officer, including AFO, the notification also requires a certificate, diploma, or degree in computer operations/language, or study of Computer or Information Technology at high-school, college, or institute level. Applicants should treat the published degree list as exhaustive because IBPS says it will not consider equivalent qualifications.

• A B.Sc. (Hons.) Horticulture pathway may qualify when it is a four-year Horticulture graduation degree meeting the notification’s recognition and result-date requirements.
• A B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering pathway is explicitly listed, provided it is a four-year degree and the candidate meets the other conditions.
• Eligibility is checked later as well: an online application or examination result does not itself establish appointment eligibility.

The AFO preliminary examination is online and has four separately timed tests: English Language (25 questions, 25 marks, 20 minutes); Reasoning (25 questions, 25 marks, 20 minutes); Quantitative Aptitude (25 questions, 25 marks, 20 minutes); and Professional Knowledge (25 questions, 50 marks, 20 minutes). The total is 100 questions, 125 marks, and 80 minutes. Candidates must meet IBPS cut-offs in each test to be considered for main-examination shortlisting.

The AFO main examination is online and has English Language (30 questions, 30 marks, 25 minutes), Reasoning (40 questions, 40 marks, 35 minutes), Quantitative Aptitude (30 questions, 30 marks, 25 minutes), and Professional Knowledge objective questions (50 questions, 100 marks, 40 minutes): 150 questions, 200 marks, and 125 minutes in total. For this group of posts, the non-professional tests are qualifying and merit listing is based on Professional Knowledge.

In both objective examination stages, an incorrect answer carries a penalty of one-fourth (0.25) of the marks assigned to that question; an unanswered question has no penalty.

• Preliminary stage: screening/shortlisting stage, with four sectional tests.
• Main stage: professional knowledge is decisive for merit listing and interview shortlisting.
• Interview: 100 marks; the minimum qualifying mark is 40%, or 35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD candidates.

IBPS accepts applications only online. For CRP-SPL-XVI, candidates use the IBPS website’s CRP-SPL route, choose the online application link, complete new registration, enter the required details, upload the prescribed materials, pay online, and submit the application.

The currently notified registration and payment period is 1 July 2026 to 21 July 2026, inclusive. This is dated information: applicants should verify the live IBPS notice and application portal for any corrigendum, edit-window instructions, or schedule change before submitting.

Applicants may apply for only one post in the process. They should preserve the evidence needed for interview/document verification, including proof that the qualifying result was declared by the stated eligibility date and, where applicable, official CGPA/OGPA-to-percentage conversion documentation.

• Read the detailed notification before registration; the submitted form remains subject to later scrutiny.
• Use a name that exactly matches the required identity and educational documents.
• Do not rely on a submitted application as confirmation of eligibility; IBPS and the participating bank verify eligibility later.

A practical preparation plan should be built around the sections IBPS actually tests. For the preliminary stage, allocate timed practice across English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, and agriculture-related Professional Knowledge, because every test has its own 20-minute limit and requires a minimum cut-off.

For the main examination, prioritize Professional Knowledge in the eligible agriculture and allied-domain curriculum: it carries 100 of 200 marks and is the test used for AFO merit listing. Continue timed practice in English, Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude because they remain qualifying tests.

Use accuracy-aware practice rather than blind guessing. The official one-fourth-mark negative penalty applies to wrong answers in both preliminary and main objective tests.

• Simulate the preliminary examination as four 20-minute sections.
• Simulate the main examination as four separately timed sections totaling 125 minutes.
• Review the official notification again before the exam because IBPS reserves the right to communicate examination-structure changes on its website.

Only candidates shortlisted from the main examination are called to the common interview. The final combined score uses an 80:20 weightage for the online main examination and interview respectively; candidates must qualify both and rank sufficiently high for the provisional-allotment process.

Provisional allotment is made on merit-cum-preference, reservation-related government guidelines, administrative requirements, and actual vacancies reported by participating banks. It is not itself an employment offer: the allotted bank separately verifies eligibility and determines appointment formalities and terms.

This is an all-India cadre process. Subject to meeting all requirements, provisionally allotted candidates may be posted anywhere in India or outside India at the participating bank’s discretion. The CRP-SPL-XVI schedule lists provisional allotment as January 2027, but IBPS marks recruitment timing and vacancies as subject to change.

• The main-examination score—not the preliminary score—is used for interview shortlisting and final merit listing.
• An interview score below the applicable minimum does not qualify a candidate for allotment.
• A reserve list may be maintained, but IBPS says it does not guarantee subsequent allotment or recruitment.