Crop Technician

Basic Function:

To provide technical support to laboratory, greenhouse and field research programme associated with the OatFrontiers project.

Background:

Oat cultivation in Ireland dates back more than a thousand years. Until the 19th-century, oat cultivation covered approx. 650,000 ha, which declined to 20,000-25,000 ha in recent times. Besides having multiple proven health benefit of oat as a human food and a positive impact on crop rotation and biodiversity, oat cultivation in Ireland faces multi-faceted challenges from biotic and abiotic stresses. Currently, there are multiple ongoing projects to address some of these issues, including ‘OatFrontiers’, funded by Interreg NPA, which aims to expand oat cultivation in the Northern Periphery Areas (NPA), which includes West of Ireland.

Northern periphery areas (NPA) have an untapped potential for oat production, but require unique factors to capitalise on this. The goal of OatFrontiers is to increase oat production within the NPA by piloting oats, a sustainable, resilient and healthy crop, over a range of NPA environments. Specifically, the objective is to determine the genetics that enable oats to produce high-quality yield in harsh environments, while also bringing together local stakeholders to apply this knowledge in practice. To achieve this the work programme will test existing cultivars via field trials in several locations representing the variation of growing conditions within the NPA. This will allow us to develop tools for plant breeders to identify suitable cultivars for future cultivation. These tools include an understanding of traits such as day-length sensitivity, earliness, disease resistance and straw strength as well as identifying high potential genetic material in oat breeding programs, which can be used to improve the traits mentioned above and other quality traits.

The OatFrontiers project has brought together collaborators with expertise on different aspects of oat research and cultivation ranging from breeding, pathology and agronomy. The successful candidate will join the oat research team in Teagasc and work with partners in Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Norway, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway, Lund University, Sweden, University College of Dublin (UCD), Ireland, Agricultural University of Iceland (LbhÍ), Iceland, Lantmännen, Sweden, Boreal Plant Breeding Ltd., Finland and Graminor Ltd., Norway.

Job Objectives

• To provide technical support to the field, glasshouse and laboratory research programme of the OatFrontiers project. 
• To assist in establishing, and managing field trials at Carlow and other locations across the country.
• To evaluate oat germplasm in glasshouse experiments and maintain the Teagasc’s Irish Heritage Oat Gene Bank.
• To analyse plant and grain samples using wet chemistry and NIRS.
• To collect, check, process and store measurement data associated with all of the experiments and field trials.
• To participate in project meetings, online and in-person and to assist in organising crop walk/field day as part of the project and when required the wider departmental research programme
• To actively work as part of a team, including national and international collaborators of the project, researchers, post-doc and PhD students, in all tasks but with individual responsibility for components of the work.
• Ensure that research tasks are completed on time and to the required standard to ensure high quality data is produced for use in scientific and technical publications.
• To assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.
• To actively participate in the annual business planning and Performance Management Development System (PMDS) processes.
• Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of themselves, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations. This includes full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement. To also complete Health & Safety Duties as requested
• Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

* This job specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive. It will be reviewed from time to time with the post holder.

Qualifications

At the time of applying, candidates must have

• A QQI Level 6 qualification or equivalent foreign qualification in Agriculture/ Biology or a related Science discipline

Knowledge/Skills

• Relevant crop agronomy / crop management knowledge
• Demonstrated glasshouse or laboratory skills of relevance to the job description
• Relevant data handling and computer skills

Behavioural Competencies

• Ability to work as part of a team, including consulting, collaborating and building relationships with key partners.
• Has the ability to problem solve and demonstrates a high level of attention to detail.
• Demonstrates a positive approach to new challenges and dissemination of new tasks.

Other

As this role will involve driving vehicles, candidates must satisfy and continue to satisfy legal requirements during employment with Teagasc to drive a car unaccompanied on Irish public roads.

Eligibility

This is an open public competition. Should a current serving Teagasc staff member be successful in their application through open public competition for this post, their current contract of employment with Teagasc will come to an end on taking up this post.