Farm operations constitute one of the important activities in any agricultural research institute, and consequently, labor management has become an important component of human resource management in agricultural research institutions. Some of the possible reasons include seasonal requirements of labor for agricultural operations, genuine demands from scientists for support in their research work, general awareness of societal issues among the work force, rights for weaker sections of the labor group, and legal judgments and government orders. This paper presents a case study, developed by incorporating these various issues and realities prevalent in agricultural research institutes. The case study provides an opportunity for decision makers and managers concerned with the management of agricultural research farms and farm workers to think on the lines of commitment of the leader of the institution to the hard core realities and problems of labor force, need for effectively dealing with the Labor Court issues, mismatch that exists between the number of scientists and the labor force available in agricultural research institutions, utilization of labor force for research work, poor accountability of farm workers, monotony in the nature of farm workers, and other issues concerning farm worker management. The case study serves as a useful teaching tool in management-training programs to orient the learners to the issues of human resource management in research institutions, in general and agricultural labor management, in particular.

Agricultural research is mainly field-oriented. In agricultural research institutes, the farm workers ably support scientists in executing various field-related research activities. These farm workers also assist the scientists in the laboratories in their experiments and analysis. However, ensuring availability of labor for all these works and monitoring the farm workers support is not easy. Labor management in agricultural research institutions, therefore, has become one of the issues concerning effective institutional management. Most of the agricultural research institutions conduct researches in their own farms. Since these farms have to be maintained both during the experimental season and off-season, there is a constant need for employing skilled and semiskilled workers for assisting in day-to-day farm-related operations. Most jobs essentially require physical energy only and so these workers need not be academically qualified. The quantum of work undertaken, therefore, differs from time to time, and the execution of the work by these workers has to be managed under strict supervision.

As of 2006, an estimated 36 percent of the world's workers were employed in agriculture (down from 42 percent in 1996), making it by far the most common occupation (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/download /kilm04.pdf). The relative significance of farming has, however, dropped steadily since the beginning of industrialization, and in 2006 for the first time in history the services sector overtook agriculture as the economic sector employing the most people worldwide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture). Agriculture is still the main sector of employment in the world's poorest regions. Not with standing these changes, the labor employed in agriculture is now becoming a formidable force, getting organized into a more structured group as compared to that of an unorganized status earlier. Better educational levels and general awareness of societal issues among the work force, including the rights of economically weaker sections, have surfaced as new paradigms, and these issues need a critical thinking. The major shifts, evidenced by dramatic legal judgments and consequent government orders, have also made labor management a major sensitive issue in the whole gamut of human resource management. Managing human resources is a challenge for many organizations; more so for institutions involved in agricultural research, which are faced with the additional dimension of management of farm workers. These farm workers are involved in the farm operations as well as in major time-bound research projects executed by the scientists in the institute. Lack of clear-cut policy directives adds further dimensions to the issue of labor management, thereby, making the decision making all the more difficult. However, many of these issues regarding management of farm workers are not documented. The issues are, in general, common to majority of the agricultural research institutes, though some institute-specific issues could also be there. This study makes an attempt to document the issues faced by agricultural research institutes in managing the human resources in the farm.

Management Research Journal, Management of Human Resources, Agricultural Research Farm, Labor Management, Human Resource Management, National Agricultural Research Institute, NARI, Infrastructure Development, International Labour Organization, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Institute Research Council .