Award Noticed - Advance Contract Award Notice – Pea Co-op Testing Trials

REQUIREMENT:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research and Development Centre require their Pea lines entered into the Field Pea Co-op Testing Trials. These trials will validate the characteristics of their Pea lines for yield, disease and quality before registration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

SCOPE OF WORK / DELIVERABLES:

The Contractor will provide the following services:

1. TEST COORDINATION

Package and distribute the seed received from AAFC to be included in the variety trails. Shall be sent to 14 cooperator run test sites for planting and growing;

2. ANALYSIS OF DATA ENTRIES

Collect and summarize the following data types at each of the 14 test sites as per the protocol outlined in the approval process required by CFIA;

Agronomic data to be collected once: plant stand, leaf type, vine length, pre-harvestlodging score, days to maturity and seed yield. Co-operators are requested to collectall of these data at the test sites. Typical maximum acceptable coefficient of variation(c.v.) for seed yield is 15; however, discretion allows the test coordinator to acceptsomewhat greater c.v. under exceptional circumstances. For example: if there was acrop failure at 7 or more of the sites. Minimum acceptable trial site mean yield isnormally 1500 kg/ha.

Disease data to be collected: mycosphaerella blight, powdery mildew, and Fusarium wilt.

Quality data to be collected:

1. On all entries: cotyledon and seed coat color, seed weight, seed shape at a minimum of eight locations; and protein content at a minimum four locations per year;
2. Optional cook testing;
3. On green cotyledon entries: green color bleaching score, and green color intensity score at a minimum of six locations.

Where required all plots are desiccated and then harvested when the designated check variety is mature.

3. REPORTING OF DATA ENTRIES

Recommend the check varieties to AAFC for registered with CFIA.

CONTRACT PERIOD:

The Contract shall start upon Contract Award and shall conclude on April 30, 2018.

CONTRACT VALUE:

Estimated Value: $73,500.00 (including GST)

PROPOSED CONTRACTOR:

University of Saskatchewan

51 Campus Drive

Saskatoon, SKS7N 5A8

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION:

A mandate of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Lacombe Research and Development Centre is to develop integrated, sustainable crop systems and varieties for the short-season environments of Parkland and northwestern Canada. To fulfill this mandate, Field Pea Cultivars are developed to improve yield and disease resistance and then tested before they can be registered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and marketed to Canadian Pea Producers.

CFIA is the administrator for Crop Variety Registration and provides authority to regulate the quality, testing, inspection and sale of seeds in Canada under the Government of Canada Seeds Act and Seed Regulations. In order for a field pea cultivar to be registered by (CFIA), cultivars must:

• receive a recommendation of support for registration from the Prairie Recommending Committee for Pulses and Special Crops (PRCPSC);

• be evaluated in the Field Pea Co-operative Registration Test (Pea Co-op Test) for a minimum of two years to obtain a recommendation of support.

Because CFIA is the agency responsible for crop registry under the Seeds Act, they have determined that only the University of Saskatchewan will be allowed to conduct these variety trials for the Pulse Crop Breeders. This is based on the crop production region where the variety is intended to be grown after commercialization and PRCPSC approval.

Government Contracts Regulations Exception and Limited Tendering Reason:

Section 6 (d) has been invoked for this procurement as only one supplier (person/firm) is capable of performing the Contract.

ACAN NOTICE:

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the Contracting Authority.
An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a "Statement of Capabilities" that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the Contracting Authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Inquiries on Submission of Statement of Capabilities:
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing, either via letter, facsimile or email to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.
The Solicitation Number, Name of Contracting Authority and Closing Date of the ACAN must appear within your Statement of Capabilities in block letters.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Contracting Authority:

Melissa Smith, Procurement Officer

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Western Service Centre

300 – 2010 12^th Avenue

Regina, SK S4P 0M3

Telephone: 306-523-6545

Facsimile: 306-780-5018

Email: Melissa.Smith@agr.gc.ca