alfalfa quality wet chemistry SOW 1157580 new.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

REQ# 1157580

Background The USDA ARS Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research Unit has the alfalfa collection of plant genetic resources (PGR) as part of our mission. Alfalfa growers would like new high protein alfalfa cultivars, and alfalfa breeders can create these with our PGR if we can measure all entries in the collection. To measure protein and quality levels of all samples, a very efficient method is the use of a near-infrared resonance spectrometer (NIRS) instrument. The NIRS must first be calibrated, and for that we need data from an analytical wet chemistry laboratory using ~100 alfalfa samples. With the wet lab data, we calibrate the NIRS and all alfalfa in the collection can be scanned very quickly for a very low price.

Objectives The objective of this Statement of Work (SOW) is to contract with an analytical laboratory who will take leaf samples from 100 of our diverse alfalfa lines and measure various attributes of the alfalfa leaf tissue including mineral nutrients, moisture, protein, lignin, sugar, starch, fat and ash content. All these things are important to know when breeding high quality alfalfa cultivars. This data will be used to calibrate the NIRS so all the ~5000 other entries in the genebank of alfalfa and related species can be measured for these attributes as well.

Scope The analytical laboratory will process the leaf tissue and measure the following: Complete Minerals (Ca, P, K, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Na, Al, and B); Moisture, (CP, AD-ICP. ND-ICPss, Soulable Protein, ADF, aNDF, aNDFom); Lignin, Sugar (WSC), Starch, Fat (EE), Ash, & OARDC (TDN, NEL, NEG, & NEM).

Tasks or Requirements

· Company will receive dried leaf tissues of 100 alfalfa genotypes from the PGITRU.

· Company will grind leaf tissues and extract different chemical components from the ground tissue.

· Company will measure Complete Minerals (Ca, P, K, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Na, Al, and B); Moisture, (CP, AD-ICP. ND-ICPss, Soulable Protein, ADF, aNDF, aNDFom); Lignin, Sugar (WSC), Starch, Fat (EE), Ash, & OARDC (TDN, NEL, NEG, & NEM) on the 100 samples.

· The company will return data on all traits measured to the PGITRU.

Deliverables or Delivery Schedule Company will deliver data on Complete Minerals (Ca, P, K, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Na, Al, and B); Moisture, (CP, AD-ICP. ND-ICPss, Soulable Protein, ADF, aNDF, aNDFom); Lignin, Sugar (WSC), Starch, Fat (EE), Ash, & OARDC (TDN, NEL, NEG, & NEM) within 6 months of receipt of the dried leaf tissues from the PGITRU. This will be provided in electronic form.

Government-Furnished Equipment and Government-Furnished Information No government furnished equipment, or information will be provided to company.

Reporting Requirements Only the final report is required along with the electronic data provided. The final report will contain the procedures used to determine each trait measured; the precision, accuracy, and potential error range of the measurements; and the reason any analyses failed for any of the samples (if any).

Travel No travel is needed for the project.

Place of Performance The work will be done in the laboratories of the chosen company. No contractors need any physical access to a Federally controlled facility and/or routine access to a Federally controlled information system.

Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-12 (If applicable) Not applicable.

Other Considerations:

· Section 508 Compliance for IT Services, Hardware, Software, and Equipment: All Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) services procured through this task must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR 1194, unless an agency exception to this requirement exists. 36 CFR 1194 implements Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,

· Non-Disclosure: The Contractor or other external organization will not publish or disclose in any manner, without the REE Contracting Officer's written consent, the details of any programs, documentation, data, or safeguards either designed or developed by the Contractor or other external organization under this Contract or otherwise provided by the Government. Contractor may be required to sign nondisclosure or other appropriate security agreements. Contractor(s) and other external organizations will enter into written agreements with the REE before the REE will disclose data or information otherwise exempt from public disclosure to the contractors and other external organizations. The contractor and other external organizations will agree to establish and follow security precautions considered by the REE as necessary to ensure proper handling of data and information. As may be identified elsewhere in this contract, the Contractor agrees that:

· Documentation Ownership: The U.S. Government owns all draft and final deliverables, data, working papers, and other relevant materials generated by the Contractor during the contract’s performance. Data will be delivered in electronic form to the PGITRU.

· Document Reproduction: Documents produced for this project are the property of the U.S. Government and cannot be reproduced or retained by the Contractor.

· USDA will be authorized to make copies of any noncommercial, non-copyrighted material for use, without notification to the vendor. At the time of record disposition or contract transition, the vendor shall box, label, and deliver all records, files, documents, materials and work papers to the COR or a location identified by the COR.