Request for Quote: Improving the Impact from Current and Future Genetic and Genomic Investments

⁠⁠⁠The AgriFutures Emerging Industries Program is seeking an experienced service provider to produce an evidence-based decision-making framework for improving the impact from current and future genetic and genomic investments, that will assist the growth and development of Australia’s new and emerging rural industries.

Background
The AgriFutures Research and Innovation Strategic Plan (2022-2027) includes a priority to drive the growth or development of emerging, high-potential rural industries.

As part of our investment in Targeted Issues, i.e. issues that impact more than one of our emerging industries, it has been identified that an evidence-based decision-making framework is critical to support R&D investments in genetic improvement of emerging industry crops and animals, especially considering the need for longer-term resource commitments.

The aim of this project is to improve the impact from current and future genetic and genomic investments for new and emerging industries detailed under the service requirements. It will do this by identifying the opportunities and limitations of extending traditional and modern pre-breeding and breeding related technologies and detailing the current status of domestic and international investment in this space. Further, the project will identify sources and access issues surrounding genetic material, and identification of pathways for registration/de-regulation/protection and dissemination of improved genetic varieties and lines. Each emerging industry in question should be enabled to develop a business case from this project, to enable ex-ante economic evaluation.

The project team capabilities must include:

• Experience in agricultural production systems, genetic improvement and economic analysis for Australian agricultural or related industries.
• Scientific and technical understanding of genetic and genomic research – including on key species now being used as research models—such as rice, maize, Arabidopsis or Medicago – and how they may be useful for future improvements of emerging crops that will enable thorough review of domestic and international literature for applicability to the Australian industry.
• Development of business cases.
• Experience in producing high quality reports, ready for publication.
• Stakeholder engagement.
• Project management.