Winter Nursery Services - Canterbury and Manawatu Plains, New Zealand

Trade Agreement: LCSA/AIT Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Exclusive Rights Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Vendor Name and Address: New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research Limited Plant & Food Research Private Bag 4704 New Zealand 8020 Nature of Requirements:

Winter Nursery Services - Canterbury and Manawatu Plains, New Zealand

01R11-16S003/A Mack, Wayne Telephone No. - (306) 241-6435 ( ) Fax No. - (306) 975-5397 ( )

Requirement: To provide plant breeding winter nursery services Specializingin Disease Pressure and Small Plot Work in Canterbury Plains and Manawatu Plains, New Zealand on an ?as required? basis for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) various locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ottawa, ON during the period of the Regional Individual Standing Offer from 01 August 2016 to 31 July 2019.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Research Stations located at Lacombe and Lethbridge in Alberta, Indian Head, Saskatoon and Swift Current in Saskatchewan; Brandon, Morden and Winnipeg in Manitoba and Ottawa, Ontario co-ordinate winter nursery services for AAFC plant breeders. Current users of the winter nursery service include AAFC plant breeders of flax, barley, peas, wheat and oats.

Background: This winter nursery is an ongoing plant breeding research program in New Zealand. The soil and climatic conditions (October to March) are similar to summer growing conditions in Canada. The timing of harvest in New Zealand permits early seed shipment to Canada, a critical concern to the nursery users, as it permits preparation of experiments for spring planting within a very narrow time frame. Natural levels of disease infection permit selection for genetic resistance to several diseases of economic importance in Canada.

Plant breeding winter nurseries are used by AAFC plant breeders to gain an extra generation of seed production and selection each year. This significantly reduces the time from the initial cross between parent lines to the production of a finished crop variety by up to four years. The use of field planted winter nurseries in areas of the southern hemisphere provides a substantial cost benefit to users in comparison to the operation of greenhouses and plant growth chambers. Plant breeding winter nurseries are used by AAFC plant breeders to gain an extra generation of seed production and selection each year. This significantly reduces the time from the initial cross between parent lines to the production of a finished crop variety by up to four years. The use of field planted winter nurseries in areas of the southern hemisphere provides a substantial cost benefit to users in comparison to the operation of greenhouses and plant growth chambers.

The winter increase facilities are used by AAFC plant breeding programs to hasten the commercialization of new crop varieties or to recover from crop failures experienced during the preceding growing season. The use of winter nurseries also affects commercial pedigreed seed production by facilitating the introduction of improved varieties in a timely manner, an important consideration in today's competitive market

Sole Source Justification: Crop Seed, a subsidiary of Plant and Food Research, is the only service provider offering winter nursery services on the Manawatu Plains of North Island of New Zealand. This service is on-going and use of this location is critical to plant breeders for the selection of genetic disease resistance to pathogens of major economic concern on the eastern prairies of Canada. The environmentat this site is optimal for the selection of genetic resistance to leaf and stem rust of wheat and crown rust of oats. These diseases are of major economic importance to cereal production on the eastern Canadian prairies. The incorporation of improved genetic resistance to cereal rusts is a key goal of AAFC breeders so the use of winter nurseries at this site is critical to their success. The Arable Nursery program of Crop Seed fulfills a national mandate in New Zealand similar to that of AAFC’s SeedIncrease Unit in that this team is responsible for the development of crops with genetic resistance to diseases, production and distribution of Breeder pedigreed seed of crop varieties developed by their institution’s plant breeders. There is no other company in New Zealand that is capable of performing the magnitude of genetic enhancement research that the work requires. This is a specialized nursery and AAFC requires the expertise this company has to grow the unique experimental genetic materials andensuring their integrity.

Total estimated Cost: $1,200,000.00 CAD

GCR Exemption: d) only one supplier (person or firm) is capable of performing the contract.

AIT Article 506: 12) to ensure compatibility with existing products, to recognize exclusive rights, such asexclusive licences, copyright and patent rights, orto maintain specialized products that must be maintained by the manufacturer or its representative; Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

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