HPPSC Agriculture Development Officer Recruitment 2026

Overview

Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission dated Advertisement No. 63/9-2026 on 25 September 2026. It is for 23 Agriculture Development Officer posts, Group A, as job trainees in the Department of Agriculture. The form and the fee both close at 11:59 pm on 22 October 2026.

Apply only through One Time Registration on hppsc.hp.gov.in/hppsc. The advertisement itself is the PDF on the commission's site.

These 23 posts are not an open merit list

The reservation is for bonafide residents of Himachal Pradesh. A candidate from another state who belongs to a reserved category is treated as a general candidate, and does not get the reservation.

The engagement follows the state's job-trainee scheme, Department of Personnel notification Per(AP)-C-B(15)-3/2024 dated 19 July 2025. The emolument printed for this post is Rs 29,500 a month. Do not read that figure as a pay matrix level.

Degree and age

You need a four-year B.Sc. (Agriculture) and an M.Sc. (Agriculture) in the second class. Both must be from a college or university recognised by the state government, the central government, or ICAR. A first-class M.Sc. is desirable. So is knowledge of the customs, manners and dialects of Himachal Pradesh, and suitability for the conditions of the state.

Age is 18 to 45 years, reckoned on 1 January 2026. The date of birth is the one on the matriculation certificate. The five-year relaxation printed in the clarification is for bonafide SC, ST, OBC, wards of freedom fighters, and persons with disabilities of Himachal Pradesh, and only if a post is reserved for that category.

Eligibility for the degree is judged on the closing date, 22 October 2026. The date on the face of the degree is the date the commission will use if you do not prove an earlier one. There is no later chance to produce the certificate at the personality test.

Fee, centre, and what you cannot change

The fee is Rs 600 for every candidate. Category and gender do not change it. Pay it on the portal. A form without the fee, or with a fee paid outside the portal, is rejected. The fee is not refunded, including when the commission rejects the form.

The advertisement names Shimla as the examination station, and then says a computer-based centre can be allotted anywhere in Himachal Pradesh, depending on where a lab is free. The entry to the venue closes 30 minutes before the paper starts.

Once the form is submitted, you cannot edit it, except a change of category under Rule 5(iv) of the commission's procedure rules. If your category changes during the process and you do not produce the certificate when the commission provisionally rejects you, you are considered unreserved, and only if you meet the unreserved standard without any relaxation.

If you are already in government service, you still apply online, and you inform your head of office in writing. If that office later tells the commission to withhold permission, the candidature can be cancelled.

The admit card is not posted. You download it from the same account. Paste a passport photograph on it, attested by yourself or by a gazetted officer, or you will not be allowed into the written examination.

The two papers, the personality test, and the official SAT units from the commission's 22 March 2025 file are on the syllabus page. Paper I practice, including option E and questions from those units, is on the practice page.