NGN Identifying alternative profitable legume options for CQ

Reference number: PROC-9177192

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Release date:: Wednesday 18 December 2024
Closing time:: Friday 31 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time
Enquiry deadline:: Friday 24 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time

Summary

During the NGN forums in Central Queensland (Gindie and Clermont), growers emphasized the need for alternative crop options for their farming systems, particularly legumes. The crops of interest included faba beans for winter and soybean for summer seasons. Historically chickpea have been a mainstay of cropping systems in CQ, but the variable commodity price and implications chickpea plants have in wet conditions has led to variable production levels in recent years. In addition, recent research findings from the Northern Farming Systems project confirmed a chickpea/wheat sequence can exacerbate disease (e.g. crown rot) and nematode numbers, which over the long term will decrease grain production.

The investment will explore the potential for alternative grain legume crops to be grown in the CQ region. Comparable experiments of alternative crops against traditional legume crops (chickpea and mungbean) are proposed to evaluate productivity and economic performance. The key findings will be disseminated to the local grower groups explaining the viable cropping options and legacies of the grain legumes in a CQ cropping system.

Offer period

Offers will remain open for acceptance by the GRDC for a period of 6 months after the Closing Time.

Document contact and enquiries

Attention: Lyndal Gordon, Contract Administrator
Grains Research and Development Corporation
Email: lyndal.gordon@grdc.com.au

Make all requests for further information or clarification in relation to this procurement in writing (email) prior to 24 December 2024.

GRDC will publish all requests and responses to requests on the GRDC website under Questions and Answers at the bottom of this webpage.

Consortia response

GRDC will accept Tenders from Consortia.

Lodgement of Tender

Submit your Tender response electronically through the Grains Investment Portal.

AusTender

TBC.

Description

Outcome

Outputs

Output 1.

Title: By June 2026 (and repeated annually) established demonstration trials to investigate the potential for alternative grain legume sustainability in the CQ region.

Description: Annual field experiments to evaluate the viability to grow alternative grain legumes successfully in the CQ region. The trials will showcase the alternative legume crops to interested growers and advisors and highlight agronomic management options.

The experiments will evaluate both a winter and summer grain legume option if plausible. The choice of treatments to be investigated should be decided with consultation with local stakeholders.

The experiments should consider (but not limited to) applicable row spacing, plant populations and suitable varieties. Communication with local growers and advisors should occur annually to ensure treatments answer key questions posed by the growers.

Collection of plant productivity data (yield and biomass) plus phenology characteristics to be collected to generate the viability of the legumes in a CQ farming system. Economic analysis to occur using local approved methods (average grain price etc) to ensure grower confidence in the results.

Output 2.

Title: Dissemination of resources outlining the results of growing alternative legumes in CQ.

Description: The extension of key learnings and outcomes from the field experiments are to occur annually. Extension should outline the benefits and implications of implementing legumes into a cropping system based in CQ. The extension is aimed to improve grower knowledge and confidence, with attendees numbers expected to in over 100 people across the two years.

The project should deliver

Dissemination of key results and observations to the local grower groups in CQ. One field day based at each experimental site annually
Provide a technical report to GRDC outlining findings from the experiment, including methods, findings, and evaluation
Provide context (information) for one Ground Cover article
Provide key findings in an accessible location for growers in the CQ region (booklet, web based etc.) encompassing the agronomy and, economics options explored as a part of this project.

Proposed Budget

Proposed Contract & Term

GRDC will contract under the terms of the GRDC Standard Two-Party Research Contract.

The schedule(s) attached to the contract will detail the project details: the outcomes, outputs, milestones, budget, participating personnel and required intellectual property.

The template contract containing the proposed Terms and Conditions is available on the Application resources page on the GRDC website.

It is anticipated that any resultant contract in relation to this procurement will commence with a proposed term of 30 months .

Conditions for Participation

The following are mandatory conditions with which a Tenderer must comply to participate in this procurement process:

The Tenderer must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners except where the Tender is submitted by a consortium and the Tender specifies that each member of the proposed consortium will be party to the contract.
The Tenderer and any proposed subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and any other applicable labour laws and standards in the jurisdiction in which they operate.
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.

Minimum Form and Content Requirements

The following are the mandatory content and format requirements that the Tenderer must complete and provide to participate in this procurement process:

Submit Tenders using the Grains Investment Portal.
Write Tenders in English and express any measurements in Australian legal units of measurement.
Budget details must be submitted on the ‘GRDC Budget Template’ provided in the Grains Investment Portal.

Evaluation Criteria

In the table below are the Evaluation Criteria that the Tender Evaluation Team will use to assess the value for money of all Tenders.

No	Type	Weighting
1	Technical – Qualitative evaluation criteria related to non-price factors such as methodology, project plan, track record, experience.
1a	A clear and thorough plan to deliver the project outcome, specifying: a) expected steps to deliver the outcome (pathway to market) b) identification of target users of the project outputs (who will the project directly deliver to e.g. grower, adviser, plant breeder, pathologist, the GRDC) c) specific information, products and/or services to be delivered to target users d) potential for the development of commercial IP.	40%
1b	Demonstrated track record of the project team, including: a) relevant achievements of the project leader in providing leadership, co-ordination, management, monitoring and evaluation and the timely delivery of high quality outputs b) relevant technical knowledge and experience of all key personnel (including proposed subcontractors) in the research area c) relevant achievements in the delivery of commercial IP (if relevant) d) ability of the project team to collaborate with the relevant research organisations and industry personnel to build on the research (national and international) already undertaken in this area.	40%
1c	An overview of your approach to data management in accordance with GRDC RD&E Data Management Guidelines, including: existing data that you intend to use during the project and any potential restrictions on its use, including in publication or commercialisation of the intended project outputs how all data will be managed during the investment new valuable data that will be created during the project and the Approved Repository where it will be stored. Note: We recommend searching the GRDC Data Catalogue for data that could be used in your proposed work, either by negating the need to generate new data or by adding to analyses being carried out.	20%
2	Price - The tendered budget.	N/A
3	Risk - Risks inherent in the application including the degree of compliance with the draft contract and any actual or perceived conflict of interest.	N/A
4	Australian economy - The economic benefit of the procurement to the Australian economy.	N/A