KEA AO AAO Recruitment 2026: Apply Online for 890 Agriculture Officer and Assistant Agriculture Officer Posts

Recruitment Overview

This recruitment is being handled by KEA for the Karnataka Agriculture Department. The posts are split between the Residual Parent Cadre (RPC) and Kalyana Karnataka (KK) region, and the combined count comes to 890 posts.

Candidates should not rely only on a headline number, because KEA has issued separate official notifications for RPC and KK. The application and exam flow is coordinated through KEA, but the written examination dates differ by region.

Vacancy Breakdown

The 890-post figure is the combined total of the RPC and KK notifications. KEA's official pages and notices show the following working split.

The vacancy tables in the notifications are further divided into 85% and 15% qualification streams. In practical terms, candidates must first check whether they fall under the 85% Agriculture degree stream or the 15% specified notified degree stream, and then match that against the correct region.

Important Dates

KEA has already published the application and examination schedule on the recruitment pages and workflow page. The dates are not tentative in the official notice.

The Kannada Language Test is common in schedule structure, while the written examination date changes depending on whether the candidate is applying under RPC or KK.

Eligibility and Educational Qualification

The recruitment uses a stream-based qualification model. KEA has divided the posts into an 85% stream and a 15% stream, so the acceptable degree depends on which slot the candidate is applying under.

For the 15% stream, the official notification includes notified courses such as Food Science and Technology, Food Technology, Agri Marketing and Cooperation, Agri Business Management, Agri Biotechnology, Biotechnology, Agricultural Engineering, and other specified agriculture-related degrees listed in the notice.

Candidates should use the exact notification PDF for final degree matching, especially if their degree title is slightly different from the common shorthand used on job portals. Where the degree nomenclature or recognition is uncertain, the official notification should be treated as the controlling document.

Age Limit and Relaxation

The official recruitment rules follow category-based upper age limits. The widely circulated summary of 42 years is incomplete and can confuse candidates, because the upper age varies by category.

The minimum age is 18 years. Special claims such as ex-serviceman, rural, Kannada medium, woman candidate, transgender, and PwD are dealt with separately in the notification and application form. Candidates claiming any benefit should make sure they have the required supporting documents before submitting the form.

Application Fee and Pay Scale

The fee structure is official and differs by category. KEA has also specified the 2024 revised pay scales for both posts.

The notification also points to online payment and states that candidates should complete fee payment within the notified deadline. A submitted form without successful fee payment should not be treated as safely completed until the payment status is reflected properly.

Selection Process and Exam Pattern

The selection process is exam-based. KEA has clearly indicated a Kannada Language Test followed by a competitive written examination in offline OMR format.

• Kannada Language Test
• Competitive written examination
• Further recruitment processing as per KEA and department rules

The written examination is objective type and held in offline OMR mode. The official notice also states a minimum qualifying requirement of 35% marks in the written exam and negative valuation of 0.75 marks for each wrong answer.

The workflow page shows hall ticket and result sections as upcoming, which means those later stages are expected, but the key announced part right now is the application and examination schedule.

Region-wise Exam Schedule

The written examination date is not the same for RPC and KK. Candidates must follow the schedule linked to their region.

This is one of the most important details in the recruitment because many summaries only mention the first exam date and ignore that the main written paper date changes by region.

How to Apply Online

KEA has published a workflow guide that shows the broad online application process. Candidates should complete the steps in sequence rather than waiting until the last day.

1. Open the KEA Agriculture recruitment page for RPC or KK.
2. Go to the online application link.
3. Complete DigiLocker-based verification or KEA account registration as required.
4. Fill profile details, educational details, reservation and claim details.
5. Select the correct region and post stream carefully.
6. Upload the required photo, signature, and supporting documents.
7. Pay the prescribed fee online.
8. Submit the application and take a printout for record and later verification.

KEA's workflow also shows a report centre and payment history section. Candidates who face payment reflection issues should not assume the form is complete until the payment and submission status are properly visible in the portal.

Documents, Hall Ticket and Current Status

The official workflow and notification indicate that candidates should keep their scanned documents ready before starting the form. The recruitment workflow mentions photograph and signature file requirements, including JPEG upload formats.

• Recent photograph in JPEG format
• Signature in JPEG format
• Educational certificates
• Category or reservation documents, where applicable
• Other claim certificates for rural, Kannada medium, ex-serviceman, PwD and related benefits, where applicable

The workflow page shows hall ticket download as an upcoming stage after exam-related processing, and result download as a later stage after declaration. As of the recruitment notice and active application phase, the key officially announced items are the notifications, application schedule, fee schedule, and written examination timetable.

Candidates should keep checking the KEA recruitment pages because hall ticket release, answer key, result sheet, and later instructions are not yet the main active documents on the recruitment page at this stage.

Official Links

• KEA Official Website
• KEA Agriculture Recruitment 2026 RPC Page
• KEA Agriculture Recruitment 2026 KK Page
• KEA Recruitment Workflow Page
• RPC Notification PDF
• KK Notification PDF
• RPC Classification PDF
• KK Classification PDF