Senior Field Plant Pathologist / Senior Agronomist

Crop Disease Surveillance, Field Protocol & Data Quality

Location: India, with field operations across selected rice- and wheat-growing states

Engagement: Senior consulting or contract role, aligned to mobilisation, pilot and seasonal field operations

Salary range: INR 70,000 to 1,20,000 per month depending on experience.

Organisation: Dronitech

Dronitech is developing a multi-state crop-health field data-collection programme covering rice and wheat in India. We are looking for a Senior Field Plant Pathologist / Senior Agronomist to lead disease-surveillance design and end-to-end disease-data quality.

This is a technical leadership role for someone who can translate plant-pathology expertise into practical field protocols, reliable disease labels and consistent scoring across teams and seasons. The programme will use drone-based multispectral surveys, ground observations, photographs, GPS-linked records and ArcGIS Survey123. Each field team is expected to include two pilots and one agronomist or field plant pathologist, supported by a central Operations Manager.

What you will do

- You will advise on which diseases, pests, deficiencies and abiotic stresses to record; define disease incidence and severity scales; identify the crop growth stages at which conditions become detectable; and recommend when sampling should start and stop in each crop and season.
- You will advise on disease-risk-based route and site selection, including where and when a strong, findable disease signal is most likely. You will define sampling parameters such as expected landscape-scale prevalence, within-field incidence, minimum observation/sample sizes,



repeat-visit timing and the evidence required for each diagnosis.
- You will review the disease, pest, deficiency and stress identification tables to ensure they reflect the target states and seasons and can be distinguished visually with high confidence.
- You will design the review process for low-confidence and “unknown” diagnoses, including photo review, second opinion, escalation thresholds and feedback into training and protocol updates.
- You will deliver initial disease-identification and scoring training, run cross-calibration exercises, and own end-to-end dataset quality. This includes reviewing incoming records, auditing photographs against diagnoses, identifying systematic errors or diagnostic drift, and recommending retraining or protocol changes.
- You will also work with the Operations Manager on rotas, coverage and workload so surveying remains on schedule and is aligned to disease-risk windows across both seasons.

Expected outputs

The role will be expected to deliver or approve the rice and wheat surveillance protocol; disease, pest, deficiency and stress identification tables; incidence and severity scales; crop-stage timing guidance; site-selection guidance; low-confidence review rules; training and cross-calibration materials; and an ongoing disease-data quality-control process.

What we are looking for





You should have senior experience in plant pathology, crop protection, agronomy or a related discipline, with strong practical experience diagnosing diseases under field conditions. Experience with both rice and wheat is strongly preferred. You should be able to distinguish disease from pests, nutrient deficiencies and abiotic stresses, and should have experience developing field protocols, disease scales, training programmes or crop-health survey methods.

Experience with drone-based crop-health surveys, multispectral imagery, ArcGIS Survey123, digital field-data platforms, disease epidemiology, multi-state agricultural surveys or diagnostic laboratories is desirable. A PhD or academic title alone is not sufficient; practical field-diagnostic experience is essential.

Why join

You will help design the scientific foundation of a large field-surveillance programme and work at the intersection of plant pathology, digital data collection, drone-based crop monitoring and operational delivery.

How to apply

Please send your CV or professional profile, a short summary of your rice and wheat disease-diagnostic experience, examples of field protocols or training programmes led or reviewed, availability during mobilisation and seasonal operations, preferred engagement model and fee expectations, and two relevant professional references.

Subject: Senior Field Plant Pathologist / Senior Agronomist — Crop Disease Surveillance

Please apply by email to [email protected]

Pay: ₹70,000.00 - ₹120,000.00 per month

Advantages:

- Cell phone reimbursement
- Commuter assistance
- Provident Fund

Work Location: In person

📌 Senior Field Plant Pathologist / Senior Agronomist (India)
🏢 Drovation Software Solutions
📍 India