REMINDER: If you are a relevant employer within the meaning of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and seeking to supply goods or services to government at or above $80,000, the Workplace Gender Equality Procurement Principles require you to provide a Certificate of Compliance with the Act as part of the procurement process.

To be eligible for a Compliance Certificate you must submit a report to WGEA by 31 May 2024 or seek an extension before 31 May and submit your report within the extension period. To seek an extension, please email support@wgea.gov.au with the subject heading Application for extension.

Closed ATM View - PROC-9176422

Macrophomina Industry Workshop Consultation

Linda McDougall

Phone: 0472 832 502

Email Address: cpprocurements@grdc.com

Web Address: https://grdc.com.au/research/partnering-in-rde-investment/tenders/open-tenders

Document(s) Contact Name:
Linda McDougall

Document(s) Contact Phone:
0472 832 502

Document(s) Contact Email:
cpprocurements@grdc.com

ATM ID:

PROC-9176422

Agency:

Grains Research and Development Corporation

Category:

70140000 - Crop production and management and protection

Close Date & Time:

7-Dec-2021 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time)
Show close time for other time zones

Publish Date:

12-Nov-2021

Location:

NSW, QLD

ATM Type:

Request for Tender

Multi Agency Access:

Panel Arrangement:

Multi-stage:

Description:

Background

Macrophomina is an endemic soil borne pathogen affecting the majority of crops in the northern farming system, with its impact exacerbated under drought conditions and high temperatures after flowering, typical of Northern Region summers. This pathogen is estimated to cost the sorghum, soybean and mungbean industries in excess of $22m annually, yet there are limited management options available for growers to minimise the impact of the disease.

In the past twelve months new knowledge has been generated within two separate research projects (USQ Post Doc USQ1807-001RTX and BACI Project “Understanding the epidemiology and host association of charcoal rot pathogen on broadacre crops”) and other industry work that has not been widely communicated. Given the updated knowledge of the pathogen, it’s persistence and impact across multiple summer and winter crops and its complex interaction with the environment, cross discipline thinking is required to determine the best research approach to address this constraint.

Investment Description

This consultancy will organise and facilitate an industry meeting to update participants on the current state of play of Macrophomina knowledge in Australia. Based on this shared knowledge, participants will discuss priorities and future directions for research, such that future GRDC investment is informed and supported by industry. Participants (up to 25) will be chosen to include a range of technical expertise (pathogen biology, field pathology, breeding, agronomy, farming systems, data analytics).
The topics should cover:

current knowledge of the pathogen
qualitative and quantitative impacts to industry (grains, pulses, oilseeds)
current and potential management options
future research required
communication and extension

The consultant will be required to coordinate the workshop (attendees to be agreed in consultation with GRDC), facilitate discussions and prepare a report on meeting outcomes and future directions. The requirement for additional consultation external to the workshop is at the discretion of the consultant and will be considered by GRDC in context of the overall proposed budget. The consultant would be required to remunerate participants for time, travel and accommodation if required. These out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed by GRDC on presentation of relevant invoices.

Expected Outcome

By May 2022, representatives of the scientific and agronomic community are informed on current industry knowledge of Macrophomina and have contributed to and support future investment approaches.

Expected Outputs

Output 1 - By May 2022, delivery of a report summarising current industry knowledge on Macrophomina and future directions for research based on the conduct of an industry workshop and consultation.

Details :

This consultancy will organise and facilitate an industry meeting to update participants on the current state of play of Macrophomina knowledge in Australia.
Participants will be chosen to include a range of technical expertise (pathogen biology, field pathology, breeding, agronomy, farming systems, data analytics).
The workshop and report should cover:
current knowledge of the pathogen
qualitative and quantitative impacts to industry (grains, pulses, oilseeds)
current and potential management options
future research required
communication and extension

Other Instructions:

Selection Criteria

1 Technical - The extent to which the application meets the Technical Requirements

1(a) A clear and thorough plan to deliver the project outcome, specifying:

a) expected steps to deliver the outcome
b) identification of potential participants in the project workshop
c) specific information, products and/or services to be delivered

70%

1(b) Demonstrated track record of the project team, including:

a) relevant achievements of the project leader in providing leadership, co-ordination, management and the timely delivery of high quality outputs
b) relevant technical knowledge and experience of all key personnel (including proposed subcontractors)
c) ability of the project team to collaborate with the relevant research organisations and industry personnel to extract from the research (national and international) already undertaken in this area, and from negotiations in this consultancy, key recommendations for future work.

30%

1(c) Please provide a fully itemised budget describing project activities

2 Price - The tendered price (unweighted)

3 Risk - Risks inherent in the application including the degree of compliance with the Draft Contract and any actual or perceived conflict of interest (unweighted)

Conditions for Participation:

The investment will be offered based on a set of eligibility and selection criteria:

Eligibility criteria: the conditions applicants must fulfil to be eligible to apply.
Selection criteria: the items against which applications will be evaluated. Each criterion is assigned certain points which are summed to rank the applications in each advertised investment area.

Eligibility Criteria

The tenderer must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners.
The tenderer and any subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
The tenderer and any subcontractor must not have a judicial decision against it (not including decisions under appeal) relating to employee entitlements and who have not paid the claim.
The tenderer and any subcontractor must not be named on the Consolidated List, being the list of persons and entities who are subject to targeted financial sanctions or travel bans under Australian sanction laws, as maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Timeframe for Delivery:

It is envisaged this investment will cover up to 7 months, with project planning commencing in December 2021 and concluding with a final report due in June 2022.

Address for Lodgement:

All applications must be submitted via the GRDC Grains Investment Portal https://access.grdc.com.au/ by 5 pm AEDT 7 December 2021.