The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture(ICBA) is an international, non-profit agricultural research center established in 1999 through the visionary leadership of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ICBA is a unique applied agricultural research center in the world that is focused on marginal areas where an estimated 1.7 billion people live. It identifies, tests and introduces resource-efficient, climate-smart crops and technologies that are best suited to different regions affected by salinity, water scarcity and drought. Through its work, ICBA helps to improve food security and livelihoods for some of the poorest rural communities around the world. ICBA is an equal opportunity employer and appoints qualified staff regardless of race, creed, color, age, gender, religion or national origin. We demonstrate our commitment to each member of our team through a competitive benefits package designed to assist our employees to cover their needs and the needs of their immediate family members.
Job Summary:
To contribute to the ICBA-CAC research program on abiotic stress adaptation and mitigation, especially relevant to excess salt, drought and high/low temperature for food and feed crops for the marginal environments in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. This job will help the supervisor to coordinate the research with a number of research groups involved at CAC and ICBA-HQ that includes breeding, conservation, quality, best management practices and multilocational evaluation. The incumbent will also take part in preparing reports and other documents required for the project and be in constant touch with national partners to support research extension activities.
Job Responsibilities:
- Lead the development / streamlining of regional database on various aspects of biosaline agriculture in relation to the agriculture scenario of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.
- Help to develop the scaling up program of NCC selection and seed production system in Central Asian countries, in collaboration with local partners of Regional and National Agriculture Research System (NARS) and regional platforms in consultation with supervisor.
- Coordinate the field trials on bio-saline agriculture techniques in consultation with supervisor to identify and characterize most suitable tolerant materials and help in advancing genetic stocks for the product development
- Work closely with all teams and stakeholders involved in the project to generate the data required under different activities of the project
- Take a major role in field experiments at research station and NARES partners’ sites, analyzing data and drafting reports and other documents required for reporting and updates
- Provide appropriate training to the partners
- Contribute for the development of the research proposals for national and international funding agencies.
- Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present findings at national and international conferences, workshops and other fora.
Qualifications and Experience:
Essential
- Ph.D. in relevant agricultural sciences (Plant breeding or Agronomy or seed production technology or Rural Development Science or equivalent subject)
- 5 years research and/or development experience
- Working knowledge of statistics and database management
- Good knowledge of written and spoken English and local languages of CAC
- Ability to work with minimum supervision, independently and as part of a team on multiple tasks
- Ability to work with farmers and rural communities
Desirable:
Additional language skills, Russian and Turkish Groups languages is desirable
