Tanisha Jetly (AIR-400 CSE-22) Botany

Introduction

My name is Tanisha Jetly and I secured AIR 400 in UPSC CSE 2022. I graduated from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University with Botany Honours in 2020. My UPSC journey began in 2019 with Botany as my optional.

Since I am a botany graduate, I did not feel any significant need to join coaching or any test series for optional. In my first attempt (2020) I was not able to clear mains. In second (2021) attempt I missed at prelims stage only. I finally made it into the list in third attempt (2022).

Here I am going to share my Optional Strategy.

Time Given to Botany

• 3 hours daily. (I did not give any time to botany four months before prelims and shifted complete focus on prelims only)
• 4.5 hours daily after prelims.

Phases followed

• First, my focus was to go through the syllabus and PYQs. For this, I also referred to past 15 years papers to get comprehensive idea about range of topics to be covered.
• Second focus was on making precise notes (2-3 pages) of every topic mentioned. I tried to cover maximum syllabus before prelims.
• Third phase includes revising notes multiple times. This phase began after prelims. Read, learn, revise and repeat many times.
• Fourth, write things to have better retention. Make your own set of questions and practice answering them.

My booklist for Botany Paper 1

1.MICROBIOLOGY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY-

A textbook of botany by Singh Pande Jain + internet resources

2.CRYPTOGAMS-

Same Singh Pande Jain book + internet resources

3.PHANEROGAMS -

For Gymnosperms; Singh Pande Jain book

For Angiosperms; Plant Systematics by G Singh (Gurucharan Singh)

For Embryology ; The Embryology of Angiosperms by Bhojwani and Bhatnagar

4.PLANT RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT:

Economic Botany by S.L.Kochhar + internet resources

5. MORPHOGENESIS:

Directly from different websites

Booklist/Other Sources for Botany Paper 2

1.CELL BIOLOGY:

From different websites

2.GENETICS, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION:

Some topics covered from Genetics by PK Gupta + Some from my graduation notes + internet resources

Evolution topic from internet resources

3.PLANT BREEDING, BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS:

Internet resources + Graduation notes

4. PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY:

Different internet resources +

Graduation notes

5.ECOLOGY AND PLANT GEOGRAPHY:

Any basic environment book + Internet Resources

Note

1. There is no need to cover books completely. Focus only on the topics mentioned in the syllabus.

2. There are some websites which played a major role in note making for the topics which were not present in the books.

*Biology discussion

*Study and score

*Random reliable YouTube videos

3. My graduation notes helped me in covering topics which overlapped. One can surely refer to the graduation notes if topics are covered properly.

Answer Writing

INTRODUCTION

Either start your answer with simple definition or by facts and figures.

Example: For a question related to lichens one can start by simply defining it or by mentioning number of lichen species in India.

MAIN BODY

Write as per the demand of the question.

Try to cover answer in points or in flow chart.

Draw neat and clean diagrams.

Write scientists name wherever possible.

CONCLUSION

It’s a bit difficult to conclude botanical answers. In some cases, one can try it by summarising the answer or by writing significance of the topic mentioned in 2-3 lines.

Sample practice answer on types and internal structure of lichens.

All the best!