Project Scientist III

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.

Our work aims to improve the health and livelihoods of rice farmers and consumers, promote environmental sustainability in the context of climate change, and empower women and youth in the rice sector. IRRI's research-for-development approach is rooted in collaboration with advanced research institutions, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), governments, the development sector, and the private sector to ensure scientific innovations are translated into real-world impact.

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.

Job Purpose

The IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) serves as a regional hub supporting collaborative research, capacity building, and service provision for stakeholders from India, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. ISARC aims to enhance South-South cooperation, strengthen rice production and seed quality, increase farmers' incomes, deliver research services through its advanced laboratory facilities, and facilitate knowledge transfer through short courses and IRRI Education offerings.

The World Bank-supported UPAGREES project aims to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen rural enterprises, and improve market access across 21 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh by fostering resilient agri-food value chains, empowering farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and encouraging private sector engagement. Under this initiative, the IRRI South Asia Regional Center will collaborate with the Uttar Pradesh Diversified Agriculture Support Project (UPDASP) and the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) to support the implementation of interventions in rice-based systems. While IRRI will provide technical support, UPDASP—supported by a designated Support Organization (SO)—will coordinate the implementation of project activities, including demonstrations and training.

Under the close supervision of the Cluster Coordinator, the incumbent will provide basic support in the implementation of extension activities such as setting up and operating agronomy equipment/implements and training farmers to deliver integrated technology solutions, including distribution of seeds to farmers and providing support to conduct various field activities. S/he will help to collect data from demonstrations, trials and experiments, and encode data for reporting. S/he will work in close coordination with the support organization (SO) for better implementation of the UPAGREES' IRRI-supported activities in the assigned districts.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Plan the field activities in assigned districts, organize collection of data by using appropriate and recommended tools.
• Plan and organize practical demonstrations, traveling seminars, interaction and feedback sessions, field days on different agricultural technologies and seed systems, and GIS activities in collaboration with different stakeholders.
• Troubleshooting and assist service providers, farmer producer companies and progressive farmers through hands-on training for extension of technologies.
• Coordinate with the SOs, collaborators, enumerators/ contract workers, KVK scientists, district agricultural officers on day-to-day activities, collaborative activities and provide guidance as necessary to ensure quality standards
• Monitor pests and diseases, and ensure timely treatments in consultation with specialists.
• Assist implementing partners for effective implementation of project activities.
• Prepare presentations and reports.
• Develop strong rapports and partnerships with SOs, FPGs and service providers.
• Work closely with various stakeholders including SOs, KVKs, FPCs, public and private sectors, suppliers, service providers, seed producers, etc.
• Engagement with project objective leads, subject matter experts for field experiments and data collection.
• Monitoring the progress and execution of the project activities, collecting data and organizing them in prescribed formats for the assigned districts.
• Update the execution of planned activities in collaboration with partners to supervisor/project leaders/ collaborators.
• Support the development and use of training materials with local partners.
• Organize and coordinate exposure visits, training, farmer field days and equipment demonstrations for farmers and other actors.
• Convert encoded data into database and help in developing the articles for newsletters.
• Contribute to the development of training materials.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in agriculture science or agriculture engineering with minimum of 4 years of relevant work experience in seed systems, crop management, agronomy, mechanization, post-harvest, capacity building, pest /disease management in a project related to agriculture extension and research.
• Master's degree in Agricultural science.

Skills Required

Mandatory

• Has basic knowledge of MS Office programs such as Word and Excel
• Has experience in office related work
• Has experience in data collection
• Good experience of conducting agronomy trials
• Understanding of experiment designs
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Team player, able to organize work independently
• Data collection and tabulation for analysis and report writing
• Experience of imparting training to farmers

Preferred

• Experience of working with fabricators, service providers and farmer groups to test, demonstrate and train farmers and other value chain actors.
• Has experience in rice production.

Allowances

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

House-Rent Allowance: A monthly house rent allowance of INR 11,355.

Transport Allowance: A monthly transport allowance of INR 4,000.

Dearness Allowance: One Hundred and Thirteen percent (113%) of employee's base pay.

Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): A monthly LTA of INR 2,366.

Education Allowance: A monthly education allowance of INR 1,000.

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

Join our team and be part of our story

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

This position will remain open until filled.

Job Reference: HQ01861