Protected crops sector call for project proposals:A programme of trials to address new product opportunities relevant to the production of pot and bedding plants sector
Purpose
To undertake a programme of work designed to demonstrate new production opportunities for pot and bedding plant growers by trialling and demonstrating the potential for new or current crops/varieties as new products, season extensionand practical solutions to problems encountered on a standard nursery.
Scope
All crops with potential for protected ornamental production in containers will be considered, although the work is designed to deliver practical solutions particularly to growers of finished product who often rely more heavily on growing skills than high tech glasshouse systems. Trials should focus on new product development for pot and bedding plants and/or practical solutions to problems encountered on a standard nursery. Demonstration and knowledge transfer will be an essential elementof the work. Information will also be required to demonstrate the financial impact of the work on commercial production as trials progress.
Trial location and project manager are seen as fundamental to the success of this project. Given the geographic spread of relevant levy payers the trials will ideally be centrally located, possibly on a commercial site already equipped with the facilities and growing skills to be able to produce finished product to a credible standard and there is scope for allocation of some of the project budget to cover the space and labour inputs from a commercial site. A suitable project manager would liaise closely with the commercial site to plan and assess trials and would also be capable of liaising closely with the British Protected Ornamentals Association (BPOA) technical committee in order to design a suitable programme of work each year.
Applicants will be expected to produce a well-structured workplan for the first year of the project. It will also be necessary to include a clear description of how industry consultation will be built into future work plan development, the detail of which will require sign off on an annual basis by the BPOA technical committee at their Autumn meeting (normally in October).
Aim
The successful proposal will deliver a series of approximately 5 small scale work packages per year to focus primarily on new product development and/or practical solutions to problems encountered on a standard bedding and pot plant nursery. As part of this work, the results must be clearly demonstrated to industry, supporting agronomic information will need to be created and an evaluation of industry uptake undertaken in the form of an impact assessment.
Relevant backgroundresearch:
The HDC Protected Ornamentals Panel, in liaison with the British Protected Ornamentals Association has previously funded a variety of projects designed to examine UK production opportunities for either species new to protected ornamental formats (e.g. Hellebores as flowering plants for the Christmas period in place of the more energy intensive poinsettia crop – project PO 006), or new varieties where UK trials are not supported by breeders (e.g. poinsettias project PO 007), with project outcomes often well suited for uptake by smaller levy paying businesses.
The proposed new programme of work is expected to take reference from the work undertaken by the National Cut Flower Centre, currently funded by HDC as PO/BOF 002a which is itself designed to deliver new product opportunities through a co-ordinated series of trials.
Other relevant previous HDC funded projects include:
PC 44Hydrangea: preliminary trial on the production of early quality plants. Final report 1992
PC 44aHydrangea: evaluation of new cultivars for growth, habit, marketability and shelf-life for marketing from the end of February to the end of March. Final report 1996
PC 214Cyclamen: an assessment of cultivars during production in the glasshouse and under shelf-life conditions. Final report 2006
PC 235Bedding plants: Assessment of the suitability of a range of miniature cyclamen varieties for use as late summer/autumn flowering bedding plants. Final report 2006
Reports can be obtained from the HDC website
Output
- Standard project reporting requirements, as detailed on the HDC website, will be applied to the successful project along with the need for a pro-active approach to communicating interim outcomes to levy payers in liaison with the HDC communication channels.
- Regular events to demonstrate progress will be an important element of the work programme with at least one event planned for each work package includedat appropriate and agreed times of the year.
- Delivery of a technical briefing note for each work package which will provide a short informal update of key agronomic inputs to each trial along with summary outputs.
- Objective measures of the impact of each work package in terms of, changes to nursery production outputs and/or UK product available for sale will be required to demonstrate the value of this work prior to consideration of future project extensions.
Deadlines for the application procedure
Research contractors wishing to apply for funding in response to this call should submit a project proposal to HDC by 20th September 2013 which will be evaluated through the BPOA technical committee who will pass their recommendations for funding to the Protected Ornamentals Panel meeting on 14th November. Outcomes of the assessment process should be expected to be communicated by 22nd November. Applicants may be invited to present their proposals at the BPOA technical committee meeting on 22nd October.
Applicants are encouraged to liaise with relevant grower representativeswhen building project proposals and to do this well ahead of the deadlines. Dr Debbie Wilson, HDC Research Manager, is the lead HDC representative for this call and should also be kept updated of progress with tender development to help co-ordinate efforts.
Project duration
It is envisaged that this will be a two year project in the first instance giving scope for the trials programme to become established in year 1 and to be built upon in year 2. Assuming successful delivery in this initial period, theHDC Protected Ornamentals Panel mayconsider extendingthe project further, however under HDC’s standard contracting agreement, the project will be terminated early if it is found to be failing to deliver a programme that has real impact for growers.
Budget
The maximum budget available from the HDC Protected Ornamentals Panel is £50,000 pa.
Application
The application form can be found at
Please submit the technical content of the proposal separately from the financial content i.e. two separate documents.
Evaluation of submissions
A number of criteria be will used to judge the quality of the submissions (value in brackets indicates weight in assessment process).
- Scientific and technical quality (25%)
- Clarity & scope of aims and objectives
- Clarity and appropriateness of methodology
- Feasibility (including risks)
- Does the proposal address relevant issues outlined?
- Expertise and strength of team (25%)
- Knowledge and expertise
- Quality of past contributions to, and impact on, the proposed area of research
- Potential to bring added value to the proposed research through current and/or past contributions/industry interaction
- Evidence of strong project management capability, including ability to deliver according to deadlines
- Inclusion of a suitable trials location
- Demonstration of a good working relationship between the trial site and the project leader
- Project costs (20%)
- Are costs reasonable and necessary?
- Will the total budget be adequate to carry out project activities?
- Is the budget in proportion to the anticipated resulting commercial benefits identified by the work?
- Knowledge Transfer (30%)
- Ability to interact well with industry and to deliver commercially relevant outcomes
- Identification of appropriate transfer mechanisms
Any proposal that scores less than 60% overall in the evaluation process will be rejected.
For each of the four criteria under examination the following scoring system will be applied:
0 — The proposal fails to address the criterion under examination or cannot be judged due to missing or incomplete information;
1 — Poor: The criterion is addressed in an inadequate manner, or there are serious inherent weaknesses;
2 — Fair: While the proposal broadly addresses the criterion, there are significant weaknesses;
3 — Good: The proposal addresses the criterion well, although improvements would be necessary;
4 — Very Good: The proposal addresses the criterion very well, although certain improvements are still possible;
5 — Excellent: The proposal successfully addresses all relevant aspects of the criterion in question. Any shortcomings are minor.
Questions - If you have a specific question related to this call please email . As part of the open tender process HDC cannot discuss specific project details with you before submitting your proposal.