Develop technology solutions for the safe production traceability and provenance of Australian apples and pears

⁠⁠⁠Request for Proposal: Develop technology solutions for the safe production traceability and provenance of Australian apples and pears (AP19004)
Hort Innovation is a not-for-profit, grower-owned Research and Development Corporation (RDC) for Australia’s $13.2 billion horticulture industry. Hort Innovation invests around $110 million in research and development (R&D) and marketing programs annually to provide benefit to industry and the wider community.

Hort Innovation is seeking a suitably qualified, experienced and capable delivery partner for the project: Develop technology solutions for the safe production traceability and provenance of Australian apples and pears (AP19004)
The objective of the services being sought is to develop an apple and pear industry that is better able to harness the power of IT and data systems to collect, connect and utilise business data to reduce costs, reduce harvest losses and improve fruit quality along the supply chain.
To do this, the secondary objectives are to:
• Deliver detailed understanding of Internet of Things and blockchain technology and how they are being applied in the broader agriculture supply chain and horticulture supply chain in particular.
• Explore and test technology that help the industry trace fresh fruit along the supply chain (from tree to table) to help increase consumer confidence.
• Develop the knowledge of the available IT and digital technologies and their potential application in every stage of the apple and pear supply chain e.g. barcoding, blockchain, point of harvest fruit grading, and robotic harvesters.
• Develop options for integrating agronomic tools and information with IT knowledge to enhance grower decision making and performance measurement.
• Investigate and develop industry wide identification scheme, national crop size assessment and enhanced crop and market forecasting capabilities.
• Develop the industry’s ability to collect, integrate and analyse large quantities of data and translate it into actionable management decisions along the supply chain.
• Communicate findings in a clear and practical format to growers and wider industry.