Associate Scientist-Pearl Millet Breeding

Associate Manager – Pearl Millet Breeding

(Internal Job Posting)

ICRISAT seeks applications from dynamic Indian nationals for the position of Associate Manager – Pearl Millet Breeding to support activities under Accelerated Breeding, Accelerated Crop Improvement. This position will be based at ICRISAT’s Headquarters in Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.

ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit - www.icrisat.org

Responsibilities:

• Maintain forage type breeding materials: A, B, R-lines/OPVs/Hybrids, Bajra-Napier breeding materials
• Conduct multi-location trials of high biomass/forage type pearl millet
• Coordinate trials and nurseries of forage materials with NARS and members of PMHPRC
• Seed multiplication of promising forage type cultivars and breeding materials including brown-midrib (bmr) mutants
• Monitoring of forage trials at partner’s site
• Conduct data analysis, undertake comprehensive literature reviews, and support the preparation of technical reports, research papers, publications, and other scientific communication outputs.
• Support in development of projects on forages and submit to the donors.
• Assist in selection of forage type breeding materials from Gene Bank, seed production and constitution of trials for multi-location testing
• Assist in forage quality traits (in collaboration with ILRI).
• Assist in monitoring project trials and strategic trials at out-locations, and publications in high-impact journals.
• Assist in migration of pearl millet breeding data from HQ and partner sites, location info and pedigree to BMS platform.
• Resource generation while working closely with donors.
• Ensure the execution of breeding experiments as per the agreed plans and schedules.
• Identifies and resolves quality issues in developing new products as per the agreed product profiles and publish in high-impact journals.
• Assist in resource mobilization by identifying funding opportunities and supporting proposal development.

Experience:

• PhD in Agriculture (Genetics and Plant Breeding) with atleast  5 years of post-PhD experience in crop improvement operations in field crops, especially in forages (experience in pearl millet forages would be preferred).
• Experience in Pearl Millet breeding, population improvement, experimental design, field phenotyping, data analysis, and breeding data management is desirable.
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary, multicultural, and deadline-driven research environment.

General:

This is a contractual role for a period of 36 months (3 years), renewable based on the performance of the incumbent and the institute’s continuing need for the position.

How to apply:

The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified. Shortlisting will start from 02 September 2026. All Applicants should apply with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing diversity and maintaining a progressive and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status or whether they have a disability.