Assistant Horticulture Officer & Assistant Horticulture Director Recruitment 2026

- Recruitment drive for 85 Group-B posts in Karnataka State Horticulture Department (KSHD).
- Positions include Assistant Horticulture Officer and Assistant Horticulture Director.
- Applications open from 05 August 2026 to 30 August 2026.
- Fee payment deadline: 31 August 2026.
- Competitive examination with negative marking (0.75 marks deducted per wrong answer).
- Kannada language test mandatory for non-Kannada medium candidates.

- Candidates must be Indian citizens.
- Minimum age: 18 years as on the last date of application submission.
- Maximum age: 40 years (General Merit), with relaxations for reserved categories (up to 45 years for SC/ST/Category-1).
- Additional age relaxations for widows, ex-servicemen, government employees, and other specified categories.
- For Assistant Horticulture Officer: Graduate in Horticulture from a UGC/ICAR-recognized university.
- For Assistant Horticulture Director: Postgraduate in Horticulture along with B.Sc. in Horticulture from a UGC/ICAR-recognized university.

- Selection based on a competitive examination conducted in either online (CBT) or offline (OMR) mode.
- Examination consists of two papers: Paper 1 (General Knowledge) and Paper 2 (Horticulture-specific).
- Each paper carries 100 questions (300 marks total) with a duration of 2 hours.
- Minimum qualifying marks: 35% in the competitive examination.
- Negative marking: 0.75 marks deducted for each incorrect answer.
- Mandatory Kannada language test (150 marks) for candidates who did not study Kannada up to SSLC level; minimum 50 marks required to qualify (marks not counted in final merit).
- Final selection based on competitive examination performance.

Open to all categories with applicable age relaxations for reserved categories.

- Aadhaar Card.
- SSLC or equivalent certificate/marks card (for date of birth verification).
- Educational qualification certificates and marks cards (all semesters).
- Caste certificate (if applicable, in prescribed format).
- Income and caste certificate (if applicable, only government-issued for employment purposes).
- Rural reservation certificate (if applicable).
- Kannada medium study certificate (if applicable).
- Ex-servicemen discharge certificate/pension book/proof of dependency (if applicable).
- Third gender certificate (if applicable).
- Kalyana-Karnataka (371-J) eligibility certificate (if applicable).
- Recent passport-size photograph (JPEG format, 50 KB–200 KB, white background).
- Scanned signature (JPEG format, 50 KB–70 KB).

- General Merit and other categories (2A/2B/3A/3B): ₹750 (₹500 application fee + ₹250 processing fee).
- SC/ST/Category-1/Ex-Servicemen/Third Gender: ₹500 (₹250 application fee + ₹250 processing fee).
- Persons with Disabilities: ₹250 (processing fee only).
- Fee is non-refundable and must be paid online.