Research Technician -Seed System and Product Management

About IRRI

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government.

The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff. Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change.

This position is based at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and must only be filled by the permanent residents of India.

Job Purpose

IRRI is set to implement a new project “Promotion, scaling and market positioning of specialty rice in Odisha”. Under this project, ecological suitability and market scalability of different biofortified and low GI rice varieties will be assessed. Besides on-farm testing of new germplasms in this segment, large-scale demonstration of best-fit varieties will also be undertaken. The project will be implemented in four target districts— Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, and Bolangir. The planned work streams are:

• Targeted product validation
• Stakeholder-engaged adaptive trials and crop/variety selection
• Seed scaling of best-fit varieties of specialty rice
• Monitoring and impact evaluation of project interventions

This position under the supervision of specialists will support seed system research programs through farmers’ engagement, community mobilization, close on-field coordination with implementing partners, trial management, timely data collection and reporting, seed logistics, and facilitation of other initiatives from time to time.

Roles and Responsibilities

• This position will provide on-ground support for all seed system interventions in target regions
• Building a strong conduit for implementing partners and scientists for a timely flow of data, information, and insights as required
• Advancing field progress in developing farmer-led seed systems, especially through women-centric initiatives
• Capacitating field resource persons for managing trials and community scaling of technologies
• Engagement with the communities, farmers, and other seed system stakeholders for implementation
• Regular working engagement with participating farmers for trial management
• Networking with seed-centric entities (NGO, SHG, FPO, Seed Group, Private seed companies etc.) for research-based interventions
• Support to data enumerators and partners’ personnel for trial deployment and management
• Field management for trials, demonstrations, and related interventions
• Collect data from on-farm experimentation and demonstration and for other research sites
• Record, compile, and encode data for reporting and analysis
• QSP training for farmers at the field level is well coordinated and implemented
• Field-level coordination made for beneficiary selection and seed distribution
• Coordination with potential agencies (FPO, seed corporations etc.,) for seed multiplication and diffusion
• Conduct of successful trials, demonstrations, field days, and farmer training are implemented satisfactorily and on time, based on the work plan

Qualifications

Intermediate with 5 years of relevant experience or Graduation in agriculture with 2 years of relevant work experience

Skills Required

Mandatory:

• Basic understanding of rice production
• Field data handling
• Community mobilization
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel etc.,)

Preferred:

• Working knowledge and skills in engaging farmers’ collectives

Allowances:

In addition to the base salary mentioned above, IRRI also offers the following allowances:-

• House-Rent Allowance: IRRI provides a house rent allowance of 40% of base pay per month.
• Transport Allowance: A monthly tran sport allowance of INR 5,000
• Dearness Allowance: One Hundred and Thirteen percent (113%) of employee’s base pay.
• Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): One-month base pay per annum, on availing minimum 2 days of vacation leave
• Education Allowance: INR 1000/- per child per month (limited 2 children)

IRRI offers a highly extensive employee benefits package inclusive of globally-covered medical insurance, retirement plan, life and accident insurance and other allowances.

Join our team and be part of our story! Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.