National Expert on Drone-based Seeding, Plant Nutrient and Weed Management

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a UN specialized agency dedicated to eradicating hunger and promoting food security globally. Operating in over 130 countries, FAO supports the transformation of agri-food systems towards greater efficiency, inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability. In Sri Lanka, FAO has been active since 1979, addressing challenges in crop production systems, such as climate variability, labor shortages, and inefficient input use. The organization supports the Department of Agriculture in developing and validating drone-based technologies for seeding, weed management, and nutrient application in maize-mungbean cropping systems.

Job Purpose

This role provides essential technical and operational support to the Field Crops Research and Development Institute (FCRDI) for the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and validation of drone-based seeding, plant nutrient management, and weed management protocols within maize-mungbean cropping systems. The assignment is crucial for developing national standards and operational guidelines under project TCP/SRL/4104. The incumbent will focus on UAV-based remote sensing, including processing and analyzing drone-acquired multispectral imagery, validating field data, and contributing to the development of practical operational protocols for the Department of Agriculture's extension services and the national agricultural service-provider sector.

Responsibilities

The National Expert will provide technical and operational support for planning, establishing, and managing field trials focused on drone-based mungbean seeding, maize nutrient management, and weed management. This includes assisting in the identification and preparation of research plots, developing field protocols, and coordinating drone operations to ensure adherence to experimental designs. Responsibilities also involve collecting, compiling, and analyzing field data on crop establishment, growth, nutrient status, weed suppression, yield, and input-use efficiency. The role requires supporting the interpretation of drone-derived imagery, documenting field observations and lessons learned, and contributing to the development of national standards and technical guidelines. Furthermore, the incumbent will support FCRDI in organizing stakeholder consultations, field demonstrations, and capacity-building activities, and will prepare technical reports and recommendations.

Work Experience

A minimum of five years of professional experience in UAV-based remote sensing applications is required, including at least two years focused on agricultural or precision agriculture applications. Experience should align with the educational background in fields such as Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics/GIS, Agricultural Engineering, Precision Agriculture, or Soil Science.

Skills

Proficiency in GIS software (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS) for creating georeferenced maps is essential. Demonstrated hands-on experience with multispectral image acquisition, radiometric calibration, and processing using relevant software (e.g., DJI Terra, Pix4Dfields, Agisoft Metashape) is required. Experience in designing and analyzing field calibration studies linking vegetation indices to ground-truth agronomic data is necessary. The ability to deliver technical training to extension officers, researchers, and farmer groups is important. Excellent command of written and spoken English is mandatory, with working knowledge of Sinhala and/or Tamil being required.

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