Research Associate – Incentivizing Sustainable Paddy Cultivation - J-PAL South Asia

Project Title: Incentivizing Sustainable Paddy Cultivation, Telangana

Country: India

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana

State Date: April 1 2025

Length of commitment: Five months. Will be extended until Dec 2025 subject to fundraising.

Education: Bachelor’s in Economics/Engineering

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Company Description:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) seeks qualified applicants for positions as Research Associates for projects on agriculture, education, environment, finance, health, labor, and governance in locations around the world. The projects study a variety of topics within the previously listed fields. The positions offer an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. These positions are located primarily in developing countries around the world and the principal investigators are J-PAL affiliated professors.

Project Description:

Flooding fields for paddy cultivation is water-intensive, power-intensive, and releases methane that contributes to climate change. Projections suggest that water demand will exceed the supply by 50% by 2030. Free power exacerbates the fiscal cost to the state of over-consumption of water. Agricultural practices like direct seeded rice (DSR) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) already exist and are being actively promoted by many state governments including GoT to reduce water use in paddy cultivation without affecting the productivity or quality of rice. We suggest increasing the adoption of these practices by paying rice farmers as an incentive for reducing water use. Whether or not a farmer is using alternate methods of growing rice will be validated through a new model. The incentive program implementation model would be: (i) use satellite imagery of field flooding to measure adoption at scale and (ii) deliver timely direct transfers via GoT’s existing payments infrastructure. Farmers would receive additional extension information on AWD and DSR alongside the incentives. This proposed DBT for sustainable practices would encourage conservation of groundwater and power.

Research Associate Roles and Responsibilities:

The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:

• Overseeing implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design.
• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative pilots, conducting quantitative analysis of study data and refining surveying instruments.
• Managing field teams: Recruit, train, and supervise field-based teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators.
• Supervising data collection and ensuring data quality and productivity.
• Maintaining relationships with Department of Agriculture at both headquarters and field levels and with our remote satellite imagery partner.
• Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary data analysis, and preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination.
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above-mentioned activities.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

A Bachelor’s degree in Economics (or related field) or Engineering

At least 1 year of work experience is necessary

Prior experience working with government partners is desired but not necessary

Prior experience with field data collection is desired but not necessary

Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials is required

Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills

Fluency in English and strong communication skills are required. Spoken fluency in Telugu is also required.

Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player

Willingness to live in Telangana and travel extensively within the region

Intermediate knowledge of STATA or other data analysis tools

Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations

Desired:

Master’s degree in economics, engineering or related disciplines is preferred

Experience living in a developing country and/or liaising with government officials is a strongly desired but not necessary

Proficiency in STATA (or other tools such as R, SPSS etc.) is desired

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India. This covers citizens of India, Nepal or Bhutan, Persons of Indian origin (PIO), and an Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).