Research Technician II

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.

The World Bank supported APART project is aimed to market-led climate resilient production, postharvest management, agro-processing and agribusiness in rice-based cropping systems and facilitate agri-business investments, market access, and enable smallholder farmers and agro-entrepreneurs to produce crops resilient to recurrent floods or droughts in 27 districts of Assam. The extended phase of IRRI in APART has theme on transforming the rice-based agri-food system in Assam: a value chain approach. The project aims to create a self-sustaining agrarian society and an enabling agricultural support system for marginalized farm households of Assam and will (a) adopt and focus more on cluster strategy to generate economies of scale; (b) promote vertical and horizontal links between local agricultural enterprises; (c) enable diffusion of innovations; (d) leverage network externalities; and (e) channel public support for services and infrastructure.

Under the close supervision of the Senior Specialist – Agriculture Research & Development (Agriculture extension), the incumbent will provide basic support in the implementation of extension activities such as setting up and operate agronomy equipment/implements and training of 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, experiments and encode data for reporting.

S/he will work in close coordination with the Assam Agricultural University and Department of Agriculture officials for better implementation of the IRRI supported -APART activities in the assigned districts.

• Setting up and operate agronomy equipment/implements
• Support the implementation of field activities under various objectives
• Assist in conducting farmer trainings/ field days by the different organizations
• Support community mobilization activities
• Support in motivating the youth farmers to purchase new machines
• Support the implementation of field activities related to machines/ implements
• Maintain supply inventory and indicate when research supplies and materials
• need to be procured
• Maintain and calibrate machine and perform small repairs on them when necessary
• Support in imparting the information to the farmers
• Support the collection of data from on-farm experimentation and demonstration
• Record and encode basic data for reporting and analysis
• Support contract workers during demonstration field days and farmer training operations
• Operate vehicle to transport other staff and contract worker to site and get supplies

Qualification:

• High School/Intermediate with 5 years relevant work experience / Graduate with 1-2 year relevant work experience

Mandatory

• Has basic knowledge of MS Office programs such as Word and Excel
• Has experience in office related work
• Has experience in data collection
• Has a driving license for two and four wheelers

Preferred

• Has experience in rice production system

Allowances

In addition to the base salary indicated 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 transport allowance is provided to NRS as below: NRS L2: INR 2,000
• 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)