ARE-Agronomic Trials for Value for Cultivation and Use – Herbage Trials North East Scotland

Tender description

The Scottish Government, SASA Division, has awarded a contract for the provision of Agronomic Trials for Value for Cultivation and Use – Herbage Trials North East Scotland. Lot 1: The purpose of the Agronomic Trials for Value for Cultivation and Use – Herbage Trials North East Scotland is to obtain Scottish data for UK Variety List (VL) Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) assessments / Scottish Recommended List (RL) purposes, which includes the provision of advice to the Scottish Ministers. The UK Variety List (VL) system was established in 1973 when EU Directives dealing with the marketing of agricultural and vegetable seeds were implemented in domestic legislation. To be added to a Variety List a new variety needs to be distinct, uniform and stable (DUS) and for agricultural crops, have satisfactory value for cultivation and use (VCU). The information from VCU trials allow a number of varieties (on a national basis) to go forward for further trialling (Recommended List (RL)). It is the data from RL trials that provides enough information to identify if a new variety is suited to Scotland’s geographical/climatic conditions. The trials will be carried out in accordance with the appropriate protocols and procedures approved by the UK National Authorities for herbage, which for the purpose of this contract are Italian Ryegrass, Hybrid Ryegrass, and Red Clover and any other species or species group specified by the National List Seeds Committee/UK National Authorities. These protocols and procedures will form part of any contract placed and are available online at the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vcu-protocols-and-procedures-for-testing-agricultural-crops. This procurement is excluded from the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) under Regulation 15 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 for Research & Development Services (Main CPV code – 73100000: Research and experimental development services).