RRB Officer Scale-I, II & III: the complete guide for agriculture graduates
5,039 officer vacancies across 27 of the 28 Regional Rural Banks — and agriculture is written into the eligibility itself. Vacancies, eligibility, exam pattern, interview and bank-wise numbers, taken straight from the IBPS notification.
Jump straight to
In Regional Rural Bank recruitment, an agriculture degree is not a detour — it is an advantage written into the notification itself. IBPS names Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Agricultural Engineering and Pisciculture in the preference list for three officer posts, and reserves a fourth post exclusively for them.
Overview
The four posts at a glance
Four of the officer-cadre posts in CRP RRBs XIV are open to an agriculture or allied-science graduate. One of them is open to nobody else.
| Post | Designation | Agriculture status | Experience | Route | Vacancies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I | Assistant Manager | Preference stream | None — freshers eligible | Prelims → Mains → Interview | 3,928 |
| Scale-II (Agricultural Officer) | Manager — Specialist Cadre | Exclusive to agriculture | 2 years in the relevant field | Single exam → Interview | 50 |
| Scale-II (General Banking Officer) | Manager | Preference stream | 2 years as a bank / FI officer | Single exam → Interview | 859 |
| Officer Scale-III | Senior Manager | Preference stream | 5 years as a bank / FI officer | Single exam → Interview | 202 |
| Total officer vacancies open to agriculture graduates | 5,039 | ||||
These 5,039 posts are spread across 27 of the 28 participating Regional Rural Banks. Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank reported no vacancies in any of the four posts.
The one rule that decides everything
A candidate may apply for only one post in the officer cadre — Scale-I or Scale-II or Scale-III. You can additionally apply for Office Assistant (Multipurpose), but within the officer cadre it is one post and one post only.
Decide before you register. Category and eligibility details cannot be changed once registration closes and the edit window expires.
Choosing a post
Which post is actually for you
Experience — not your degree — is what narrows the field. Read this before anything else.
Officer Scale-I
Your only route. Every other officer post carries an experience bar a new graduate cannot clear, however strong the degree. It is also where 3,928 of the 5,039 posts sit.
Scale-II Agricultural Officer
The post written for you. Fifty seats nationwide, and a Professional Knowledge paper that rewards your degree instead of ignoring it.
Scale-II General Banking Officer
Opens up alongside Scale-I if you have two years as an officer in a bank or financial institution. 859 posts.
Officer Scale-III
Senior Manager grade, 202 posts, for candidates with five years as a bank or financial-institution officer.
Read the wording carefully
The Agricultural Officer post asks for two years of post-qualification experience "in the relevant field". The General Banking Officer and Scale-III posts ask for experience as an officer in a Bank or Financial Institution. Non-banking agricultural experience can therefore support an Agricultural Officer application in a way it cannot support the other two.
IBPS does not define "relevant field" anywhere in the notification. Whether a particular employer or role counts is decided by the RRB at document verification, so keep your experience certificates detailed and specific about the work actually done.
Schedule
Important dates
IBPS heads this table "Tentative Schedule". Only the registration and fee-payment window is given as exact dates.
| Online registration of application | 01.09.2025 to 21.09.2025 |
|---|---|
| Payment of application fees / intimation charges | 01.09.2025 to 21.09.2025 |
| Edit window to modify / correct the application | After closure of registration; to be notified on the IBPS website |
| Pre-Examination Training (PET) | November 2025 |
| Call letter — Preliminary Examination | November / December 2025 |
| Online Examination — Preliminary | November / December 2025 |
| Result of Preliminary Examination | December 2025 / January 2026 |
| Call letter — Main / Single Examination | December 2025 / January 2026 |
| Online Examination — Main / Single | December 2025 / February 2026 |
| Result — Main / Single (Scale I, II and III) | January 2026 |
| Interview call letters (Scale I, II and III) | January 2026 |
| Conduct of interview (Scale I, II and III) | January / February 2026 |
| Provisional allotment (Scale I, II and III) | February / March 2026 |
On these dates
Everything from the Preliminary Examination onwards is published as a month or a pair of months, and IBPS moves them. The PET, Preliminary Examination and Preliminary result rows apply to Officer Scale-I only — Scale-II and Scale-III candidates go straight to the Single Level Examination.
Always confirm the live schedule for the current cycle on www.ibps.in before you plan around it.
Selection
Selection process, stage by stage
Officer Scale-I — two-tier
Online Preliminary Examination
80 questions, 80 marks, 45 minutes. You must clear the minimum cut-off in each test to be shortlisted. These marks do not carry forward to the final merit list.
Online Main Examination
200 questions, 200 marks, 120 minutes. This score decides both the interview shortlist and your place in the final merit list.
Common Interview
100 marks, coordinated by the Nodal RRB with the assistance of NABARD and IBPS.
Provisional Allotment
Merit-cum-preference — and for Scale-I, restricted to the RRBs of the state you applied for.
Scale-II (both) and Scale-III — single level
Single Level Online Examination
No preliminary round. One paper decides the interview shortlist and the merit list. For the Agricultural Officer this is the Specialist Cadre paper, with its Professional Knowledge section.
Common Interview
100 marks, same coordination as Scale-I.
Provisional Allotment
Merit-cum-preference to one of the participating RRBs — not restricted to a single state, unlike Scale-I.
Three rules that quietly decide results
Shortlisting ratio
No more than three times the declared vacancies in each category are called for interview — for Scale-I, three times the vacancies in each state.
Normalisation
Corrected scores across different sessions are normalised by the equi-percentile method, taken to two decimal points.
Tie-break
Equal scores are separated by date of birth — the older candidate ranks higher.
Eligibility
Age
Age is reckoned as on 01.09.2025, the first day of the registration window.
| Post | Age limit | Date of birth must fall between |
|---|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I | Above 18 — below 30 years | 02.09.1995 and 01.09.2007 (both inclusive) |
| Scale-II (General Banking Officer) | Above 21 — below 32 years | 02.09.1993 and 01.09.2004 (both inclusive) |
| Scale-II (Agricultural Officer) | Above 21 — below 32 years | 02.09.1993 and 01.09.2004 (both inclusive) |
| Officer Scale-III | Above 21 — below 40 years | 02.09.1985 and 01.09.2004 (both inclusive) |
Age relaxation
| Category | Relaxation |
|---|---|
| Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe (SC / ST) | 5 years |
| Other Backward Classes (OBC — Non-Creamy Layer) | 3 years |
| Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD), RPwD Act 2016 | 10 years |
| Ex-servicemen commissioned officers, including ECOs / SSCOs | 5 years |
The upper age limits in the first table apply to General and EWS candidates. SC/ST/OBC relaxation is allowed on a cumulative basis with only one of the remaining categories. The ex-servicemen relaxation requires at least five years of military service and release on completion of assignment — not dismissal, discharge for misconduct, or invalidment.
A common mix-up
The relaxations quoted for Office Assistant (Multipurpose) candidates — including the well-known concession for widows, divorced women and women legally separated from their husbands — do not extend to any officer-cadre post. Neither does the ESM/DESM fee concession.
Eligibility
Educational qualification
Qualifications are reckoned as on 21.09.2025, and the result must have been declared on or before that date. Documentary proof from the Board or University of the result declaration date must be produced at the interview.
Officer Scale-I
Essential: Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised University or its equivalent. No minimum percentage.
Also essential: Proficiency in the local language as prescribed by the participating RRB.
Desirable: Working knowledge of computer.
Preference is given to candidates holding a degree in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Agricultural Engineering, Pisciculture, Agricultural Marketing and Cooperation, Information Technology, Management, Law, Economics or Accountancy — eight of those thirteen streams are agriculture and allied sciences.
Officer Scale-II (Agricultural Officer)
Essential: Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy, Animal Husbandry, Forestry, Veterinary Science, Agricultural Engineering or Pisciculture from a recognised University or its equivalent, with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate.
The only one of its kind
This is the single officer post in the whole notification where an agriculture degree is not merely preferred but required. A B.Com, B.A. or B.Sc. graduate from any other stream simply cannot apply. It is also the only paper with an agriculture-specific section.
Officer Scale-II (General Banking Officer)
Essential: Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised University or its equivalent with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate.
Preference is given to candidates holding a degree in Banking, Finance, Marketing, Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Agricultural Engineering, Pisciculture, Agricultural Marketing and Cooperation, Information Technology, Management, Law, Economics or Accountancy.
Officer Scale-III
Essential: Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised University or its equivalent with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate.
Preference is given to candidates holding a degree or diploma in the same list as Scale-II General Banking Officer. Scale-III is the only post where a diploma also counts towards preference.
How the percentage is calculated
Total marks obtained in all subjects across all semesters or years, divided by the aggregate maximum marks, multiplied by 100 — irrespective of honours, optional or additional optional subjects. Where CGPA or OGPA is awarded, it must be converted to a percentage using your university's norms, and documentary proof of those norms produced at verification.
This detail has ended candidatures
The fraction of a percentage is ignored. 49.99% is treated as less than 50%. There is no rounding up. If your aggregate sits on the boundary, calculate it precisely before you register for a post that requires 50%.
Local language proficiency
Proficiency in the local language of the state applied for is an essential qualification for Officer Scale-I only. It is not required for Scale-II or Scale-III — one reason a candidate who is otherwise eligible for a specialist post may prefer it.
A candidate who studied the language of the state in standard VIII or any level above standard VIII in a Government-recognised board or school is considered proficient. A candidate who does not meet the requirement at the time of selection is given six months from the date of joining to acquire it, extendable by the RRB's Board within the rules but never beyond the probation period.
Eligibility
Experience requirements
Three of the four posts require experience, reckoned as on 21.09.2025. Certificates must be produced at the interview.
| Post | Required | Nature of the experience |
|---|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I | None | Open to freshers |
| Scale-II (Agricultural Officer) | 2 years | Post-qualification experience in the relevant field — agriculture and allied work, not necessarily banking |
| Scale-II (General Banking Officer) | 2 years | As an officer in a Bank or Financial Institution |
| Officer Scale-III | 5 years | As an officer in a Bank or Financial Institution |
Application fee
Paid online only, within the registration window.
| Category | Fee (inclusive of GST) |
|---|---|
| SC / ST / PwBD | ₹175 |
| All others (General / OBC / EWS) | ₹850 |
- A separate fee is payable for each post applied for. If you apply for Office Assistant as well as an officer post, you register separately and pay twice.
- Bank transaction charges for online payment are borne by the candidate.
- The ESM / DESM fee concession available to Office Assistant applicants does not apply to officer-cadre posts.
Exam pattern
All four papers
All tests are objective. In every paper you choose either the English Language test (4a) or the Hindi Language test (4b) — never both.
Officer Scale-I — Preliminary
| Test | Qs | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 25 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 40 | 20 min |
| Total | 80 | 80 | 45 min |
Qualifying only. Preliminary marks do not count towards the final merit list. "State-specific" means English, Hindi and the applicable regional language of the state you apply to.
Officer Scale-I — Main
| Test | Qs | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | 15 min |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | 15 min |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 120 min |
Main Examination marks decide both the interview shortlist and the final merit list. Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude carry 50 marks each — half the paper between them.
Scale-II (Agricultural Officer) — Single Level, Specialist Cadre
| Test | Qs | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Knowledge | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Financial Awareness | 40 | 40 | 15 min |
| English Language | 40 | 20 | 30 min |
| Hindi Language | 40 | 20 | 30 min |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | 15 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Total | 240 | 200 | 150 min |
240 questions in 150 minutes — the longest paper of the four, with six sections instead of five, and the only one carrying a Professional Knowledge section.
Scale-II (General Banking Officer) — Single Level
| Test | Qs | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | 15 min |
| Financial Awareness | 40 | 40 | 15 min |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 120 min |
Officer Scale-III — Single Level
| Test | Qs | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | 15 min |
| Financial Awareness | 40 | 40 | 15 min |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | 30 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 120 min |
Structurally identical to the Scale-II General Banking Officer paper. The difference between the two posts lies entirely in eligibility and in how hard the cut-off runs, not in the question paper.
Also worth knowing
IBPS reserves the right to modify the structure of any test, including its duration, and will announce any change on its website. Examination centres are allotted at IBPS's discretion — you may be given a centre outside the state whose vacancies you applied for, and no request for a change of centre is entertained.
The agriculture paper
The Professional Knowledge section
This 40-question, 40-mark section is the entire reason the Agricultural Officer post exists as a separate cadre — and the one place in the whole recruitment where your degree is tested directly rather than treated as a tie-breaker.
Important — this list is not official
IBPS does not publish a syllabus for this section. The notification names the section and its marks, and nothing more. The topics below are reconstructed by Agriguru EdTech from previous specialist-cadre papers and the standard undergraduate agriculture curriculum. Treat them as a study map, not as the official syllabus — and never as a guarantee of what will be asked.
Agronomy
Cropping systems, seasons and seasons' crops, tillage, irrigation and water management, weed management, dryland agriculture.
Soil Science
Soil types and classification, soil fertility, nutrients and deficiency symptoms, manures and fertilisers, soil conservation, soil health card.
Horticulture
Fruit, vegetable, plantation and spice crops, propagation, post-harvest handling, protected cultivation, floriculture.
Plant Protection
Major pests and diseases of field crops, integrated pest management, plant pathology basics, pesticides and safe use.
Animal Husbandry & Dairy
Breeds, feeding and nutrition, common diseases, dairy and poultry management, White Revolution and allied programmes.
Seed Technology & Genetics
Seed production and certification, plant breeding fundamentals, hybrids and varieties, biotechnology basics.
Agricultural Economics
Farm management, cost concepts, MSP and price policy, agricultural marketing, e-NAM and APMC reform, WTO and agri-trade.
Agricultural Extension
Extension approaches, KVKs and ATMA, transfer of technology, farmer producer organisations, rural sociology.
Agricultural Finance & Rural Banking
NABARD's role, priority sector lending norms, Kisan Credit Card, crop loans and scales of finance, warehouse receipt financing, SHGs and JLGs.
Schemes & Current Affairs
PMFBY, PM-KISAN, RKVY, PMKSY, Soil Health Card, national missions, budget announcements for agriculture, recent agri statistics.
Where candidates lose this paper
The section that separates strong Professional Knowledge scores from average ones is almost never pure agronomy — it is agricultural finance and government schemes. This is a banking exam, and the questions lean towards the intersection of agriculture and credit: what NABARD refinances, what counts as priority sector, how a Kisan Credit Card limit is arrived at, what PMFBY actually covers.
An agriculture graduate who studies only their degree syllabus will clear the section. One who adds agri-finance and current schemes will top it.
Final stage
Interview and final merit
The interview applies to all four officer posts — it is the stage Office Assistant candidates do not face. It is coordinated by the Nodal Regional Rural Bank with the assistance of NABARD and IBPS.
| Total marks | 100 |
|---|---|
| Minimum qualifying marks | 40% for General and EWS; 35% for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD |
| Weightage | Online examination 80 : interview 20 |
| Basis of final score | Main Examination score (Scale-I) or Single Level Examination score (Scale-II and III), combined with the interview score |
A candidate must qualify in both the online examination and the interview, and stand sufficiently high in the merit list, to reach provisional allotment. Merely passing the individual tests is not enough. Interview scores of candidates who fail to reach the minimum are not disclosed, and scores from the Main / Single examination are not shared until the interview process is complete.
No request for a change of interview date, venue or centre is entertained.
Documents to carry to the interview
- Printout of the valid Interview Call Letter
- Valid system-generated printout of the online application form
- Proof of date of birth — birth certificate from a competent authority, or SSLC / Std. X certificate showing date of birth
- Valid photo identity proof
- Mark-sheets and certificates for graduation, with documentary proof from the Board / University that the result was declared on or before 21.09.2025
- Experience certificates as on 21.09.2025, where applicable
- Caste certificate in the prescribed format for SC / ST / OBC candidates — OBC candidates must submit a Non-Creamy Layer certificate
- Income and Asset certificate in the prescribed format for EWS candidates
- Valid disability certificate / UDID card for PwBD candidates
- No Objection Certificate in original from the employer, for candidates serving in Government or quasi-Government offices or PSUs, including nationalised banks and financial institutions
- Certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India, for candidates in nationality categories 2 to 5
Do not treat this as paperwork
Candidates who fail to produce the relevant eligibility documents are not allowed to appear for the interview or to join the allotted RRB. All certificates are verified with the issuing authority, and wrongful submission attracts debarment and legal action. Do not send documents to IBPS or the Nodal RRBs separately — carry them.
Where you will work
The 28 participating RRBs
The local-language column matters most to Officer Scale-I applicants, for whom proficiency is an essential qualification, and it determines the regional-language version of the question paper.
Swipe the table sideways to see head office and language →
| State / UT | Regional Rural Bank | Head Office | Local language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank | Amravati | Telugu |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank | Naharlagun (Papumpare) | English |
| Assam | Assam Gramin Vikash Bank | Guwahati | Assamese, Bengali, Bodo |
| Bihar | Bihar Gramin Bank | Patna | Hindi |
| Chhattisgarh | Chhattisgarh Rajya Gramin Bank | Raipur | Hindi |
| Gujarat | Gujarat Gramin Bank | Vadodara | Gujarati |
| Haryana | Sarva Haryana Gramin Bank | Rohtak | Hindi |
| Himachal Pradesh | Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank | Mandi | Hindi |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank | Jammu | Dogri, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Urdu, Gojri, Pahari, Ladakhi, Balti (Palli), Dardi, Hindi |
| Jharkhand | Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank | Ranchi | Hindi |
| Karnataka | Karnataka Grameena Bank | Ballari | Kannada |
| Kerala | Kerala Gramin Bank | Mallapuram | Malayalam |
| Madhya Pradesh | Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank | Indore | Hindi |
| Maharashtra | Maharashtra Gramin Bank | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | Marathi |
| Manipur | Manipur Rural Bank | Imphal | Manipuri |
| Meghalaya | Meghalaya Rural Bank | Shillong | Khasi, Garo |
| Mizoram | Mizoram Rural Bank | Aizawl | Mizo |
| Nagaland | Nagaland Rural Bank | Kohima | English |
| Odisha | Odisha Grameen Bank | Bhubaneswar | Odia |
| Puducherry | Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank | Puducherry | Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu |
| Punjab | Punjab Gramin Bank | Kapurthala | Punjabi |
| Rajasthan | Rajasthan Gramin Bank | Jaipur | Hindi |
| Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu Grama Bank | Salem | Tamil |
| Telangana | Telangana Grameena Bank | Hyderabad | Telugu, Urdu |
| Tripura | Tripura Gramin Bank | Agartala | Bengali, Kokborok |
| Uttar Pradesh | Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank | Lucknow | Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit |
| Uttarakhand | Uttarakhand Gramin Bank | Dehradun | Hindi, Sanskrit |
| West Bengal | West Bengal Gramin Bank | Kolkata | Bengali, Nepali |
Vacancy data
Bank-wise vacancies
Vacancies are indicative, as the notification itself states. Provisional allotment is made on the basis of the actual vacancies each RRB reports to IBPS, which can differ from the published figure.
Swipe the table sideways to see every post column →
| Regional Rural Bank | Scale-I | Agri Officer | Scale-II GBO | Scale-III | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Assam Gramin Vikash Bank | 185 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 185 |
| Bihar Gramin Bank | 192 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 192 |
| Chhattisgarh Rajya Gramin Bank | 149 | 0 | 38 | 9 | 196 |
| Gujarat Gramin Bank | 263 | 9 | 55 | 12 | 339 |
| Sarva Haryana Gramin Bank | 32 | 0 | 25 | 21 | 78 |
| Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 32 |
| Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank | 36 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 48 |
| Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank | 50 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 66 |
| Karnataka Grameena Bank | 500 | 34 | 75 | 0 | 609 |
| Kerala Gramin Bank | 250 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 265 |
| Madhya Pradesh Gramin Bank | 301 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 301 |
| Maharashtra Gramin Bank | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Manipur Rural Bank | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Meghalaya Rural Bank | 15 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 40 |
| Mizoram Rural Bank | 40 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 50 |
| Nagaland Rural Bank | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Odisha Grameen Bank | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150 |
| Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Punjab Gramin Bank | 70 | 4 | 30 | 14 | 118 |
| Rajasthan Gramin Bank | 500 | 0 | 405 | 90 | 995 |
| Tamil Nadu Grama Bank | 200 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 202 |
| Telangana Grameena Bank | 225 | 0 | 100 | 23 | 348 |
| Tripura Gramin Bank | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank | 500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 500 |
| Uttarakhand Gramin Bank | 50 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 61 |
| West Bengal Gramin Bank | 50 | 0 | 54 | 14 | 118 |
| Total | 3,928 | 50 | 859 | 202 | 5,039 |
Where the Agricultural Officer posts actually are
Only 5 of the 28 banks reported Agricultural Officer vacancies, and the distribution is severely skewed:
| Regional Rural Bank | Agricultural Officer posts |
|---|---|
| Karnataka Grameena Bank | 34 |
| Gujarat Gramin Bank | 9 |
| Punjab Gramin Bank | 4 |
| Tamil Nadu Grama Bank | 2 |
| Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank | 1 |
| All 28 RRBs | 50 |
That is the whole of the 50 posts — Karnataka alone holds 68% of them. If you are targeting the Agricultural Officer post specifically, note that this distribution is redrawn every cycle based on what each RRB reports, and your state may simply not have the post in a given year. Because Scale-II allotment is not restricted to one state, that matters less than it would for Scale-I — but it still shapes how many people you are competing against.
Category-wise breakdown
| Post | SC | ST | OBC (NCL) | EWS | General | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I | 580 | 311 | 1,039 | 362 | 1,636 | 3,928 |
| Scale-II (Agricultural Officer) | 7 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 22 | 50 |
| Scale-II (General Banking Officer) | 129 | 65 | 231 | 85 | 349 | 859 |
| Officer Scale-III | 26 | 12 | 54 | 17 | 93 | 202 |
| Total | 742 | 390 | 1,338 | 469 | 2,100 | 5,039 |
PwBD vacancies are carved out of these totals, not added to them. Annexure I breaks them into four columns: HI (hearing impairment), OC (orthopaedically challenged / locomotor disability), VI (visual impairment) and ID (intellectual disability — autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disability and mental illness). The notification separately defines a fifth category, Multiple Disabilities, as a combination of the four above, but gives it no column of its own in the vacancy tables.
After the exam
Provisional allotment
One state only
Allotment is restricted to the RRBs of the state you applied for. Your state choice at registration is effectively your posting state.
Anywhere in India
Allotted to one of the participating RRBs on a merit-cum-preference basis, without the single-state restriction.
- A reserved-category candidate selected on General Category norms is treated at par with a General candidate and is not adjusted against a reserved post.
- Once allotment is made, no request for a change is entertained — and making such a request results in cancellation of candidature.
- Provisional allotment is not an offer of employment. The offer of appointment, verification and joining formalities rest solely with the RRB.
- A candidate who does not take up the offer from the allotted RRB forfeits their candidature.
- A reserve list is drawn in each category. Allotment from it may be carried out three to four times within one year of the date of provisional allotment.
- The validity of CRP RRBs XIV expires one year after the date of provisional allotment, or when a fresh provisional allotment is made — whichever is earlier.
Preparation
How to prepare
What follows is Agriguru EdTech's guidance, drawn from the mark distribution in the papers above — not notification text.
Pick your post before you open a book
You get one officer post. A fresher's decision is made for them: Scale-I. Everyone else should compare the experience wording against their actual service certificate before building a study plan, because the Agricultural Officer paper and the Scale-I papers reward completely different preparation.
Scale-I: Reasoning and Quant carry the paper
In the Main, Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude are 50 marks each — 100 of the 200 marks, in 60 of the 120 minutes. Computer Knowledge is 40 questions for only 20 marks: worth securing, never worth over-investing in. General Awareness at 40 marks in 15 minutes is the highest marks-per-minute section in the paper, and it is pure recall — banking awareness, rural credit and current affairs of the last six months.
Do not neglect the Preliminary. It carries no merit weight, but it is a hard gate with a sectional cut-off in both tests, and 80 questions in 45 minutes is a speed test more than a knowledge test.
Agricultural Officer: guard the 40 marks only you can score
Professional Knowledge is where your degree becomes an advantage no generalist can match — and Financial Awareness at 40 marks rewards the same reading. Between them that is 80 of 200 marks sitting in agriculture-adjacent territory. Meanwhile English or Hindi is only 20 marks and Computer Knowledge only 20, so a weak language section hurts far less here than in the other papers.
Budget your time against 240 questions in 150 minutes. Per question that is 37.5 seconds — slightly more room than the 36 seconds the 200-question papers allow, and more than the 33.75 seconds of the Scale-I Preliminary. The difficulty here is not per-question speed but stamina: it is the longest sitting of the four, with six sections instead of five.
Everyone: practise the penalty, not just the questions
Because the penalty is a quarter of each question's own value, blind guessing costs more in the 50-mark sections than in the 20-mark ones. Sit full-length mocks under time, then audit your wrong answers section by section to see where guessing is actually paying you.
On salary
You will find in-hand figures for RRB officers quoted widely online. We have not published any here, for a simple reason: IBPS does not state pay scales anywhere in the CRP RRBs XIV detailed advertisement. Pay and allowances are governed by the participating RRB under the applicable service regulations, not by this notification. We would rather leave the section out than fill it with numbers we cannot source to the document.
Fine print
Other conditions worth knowing
Credit history
You must maintain a healthy credit history at the time of joining, with the minimum score set by the RRB. It is not a pre-condition to apply, and does not apply to candidates with no bank account.
Pre-Examination Training
Available online to a limited number of SC, ST, OBC and Minority Community candidates, for Officer Scale-I only. Opt in on the application form. It confers no right to selection.
Examination centres
Allotted at IBPS's discretion. You may be given a centre outside the state whose vacancies you applied for, and no change request is entertained.
No change after the edit window
Category and other eligibility details cannot be altered once registration closes and the edit window expires. Check every field before you submit.
Nationality
Indian citizens, plus subjects of Nepal and Bhutan, Tibetan refugees who came before 1 January 1962, and persons of Indian origin migrated from specified countries — the last four needing a certificate of eligibility from the Government of India.
Grievances
Queries and complaints go through the IBPS grievance portal at cgrs.ibps.in, not by email or post.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can a B.Sc. Agriculture graduate apply for Officer Scale-I?
Yes. Scale-I is open to a bachelor's degree in any discipline, and agriculture is named in the preference list. It requires no experience and has no minimum percentage, which makes it the standard route for agriculture graduates entering banking — and it holds 3,928 of the 5,039 posts.
Is the Agricultural Officer post open to freshers?
No. It requires two years of post-qualification experience in the relevant field, reckoned as on 21.09.2025. A fresh graduate, however strong the degree, is not eligible.
Can I apply for both Scale-I and the Agricultural Officer post?
No. Only one post may be applied for within the officer cadre. You may separately apply for Office Assistant (Multipurpose) in addition, with a separate registration and a separate fee.
Does the Agricultural Officer post require local language proficiency?
No. Local language proficiency is an essential qualification for Officer Scale-I only. It is not required for either Scale-II post or for Scale-III.
Which post has an agriculture-specific paper?
Only Officer Scale-II (Agricultural Officer), through its 40-mark Professional Knowledge section. The Scale-I, Scale-II General Banking Officer and Scale-III papers test reasoning, quantitative aptitude, language, computer knowledge and general or financial awareness — no agriculture at all.
Does the Preliminary Examination score count towards the final merit?
No. For Scale-I, the Preliminary is purely qualifying. Only the Main Examination score and the interview score, in an 80:20 ratio, decide the final merit list.
What is the minimum percentage needed in graduation?
Officer Scale-I has no minimum percentage. The other three posts — both Scale-II posts and Scale-III — require 50% marks in aggregate. Remember that the fraction is ignored, so 49.99% is treated as below 50%.
Can I be allotted a bank in another state?
For Scale-I, no — allotment is restricted to the RRBs of the state you applied for. For Scale-II and Scale-III, yes: you are allotted to one of the participating RRBs anywhere in the country on a merit-cum-preference basis.
How much is deducted for a wrong answer?
One fourth of the marks assigned to that question — not a flat 0.25 marks. In a 40-question, 50-mark section each question is worth 1.25, so a wrong answer costs 0.3125. In a 40-question, 20-mark section each is worth 0.5, so a wrong answer costs 0.125. Unanswered questions carry no penalty.
What is the pay scale for RRB officers?
The CRP RRBs XIV detailed advertisement does not state pay scales for any post. Pay and allowances are determined by the participating RRB under the applicable service regulations. Any in-hand figure you see quoted for this recruitment comes from outside the notification, so verify it against the RRB's own terms before relying on it.
Sources and scope. Every figure in this guide is taken from the IBPS Common Recruitment Process for Recruitment of Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Office Assistants (Multipurpose) in Regional Rural Banks — CRP RRBs XIV detailed advertisement. Vacancy figures are the indicative numbers published in Annexure I of that notification and have been cross-checked bank by bank against it. Only the four officer posts open to agriculture and allied-science graduates are covered; Office Assistant (Multipurpose) and the IT, Chartered Accountant, Law, Treasury and Marketing specialist posts are excluded.
IBPS does not publish pay scales, a Professional Knowledge syllabus, cut-off marks, or a definition of "relevant field" in this advertisement. Where this guide fills any of those gaps, it says so at that point in the text. Vacancies are indicative and the schedule is tentative — always confirm the current cycle's notification at www.ibps.in before applying.