Portable Photosynthesis System with Fluorometer

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation number 12505B21Q0123 is issued as a request for quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2021-07. This solicitation will be a 100% Total Small Business Set-Aside. The associated NAICS code is 334519, Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 500 employees and the PSC code is 6630. The Department of Agriculture (ARS) has the need for the following products: 001) Portable Photosynthesis System with Fluorometer Scope of Work: The USDA-ARS Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit (GCPRU) in Urbana, IL is requesting quotes for a portable photosynthesis system with fluorometer, including instrument training and shipping. Background: To measure gas exchange of crop plants. Transpiration drives water and thus part of nutrient uptake to plant roots. Our objective is to quantify the role of transpiration relative to root exploration in nutrient acquisition. We need to measure transpiration and photosynthetic rates of crop plants. This can be done by measuring exchange of the gases CO2 and H2O between the plant and atmosphere. Accurate measurements require low noise in the infrared gas analyzers and systems designed to prevent leakage of gases which would bias estimates. Large leaf surface areas are also required to reduce noise and provide representative estimates of the entire leaf. The instruments are used in the field, and must operate in a range of conditions. Simultaneous measurements of fluorescence provide information about light harvesting ability of the plants. In order to provide accurate fluorescence measurements, the instruments needs to fully saturate photocenters in the leaves. Crop plants have very high photosynthetic capacities and thus need very bright flashes of light to saturate that photocenters. Technical Requirements: The CO2 analyzers should have a precision of 0.4 umol mol-1 RMS at 2 Hz with 4 sec averaging at ~ambient atmospheric CO2 concentrations The H2O analyzer should have a precision of 0.01 mmol mol-1 RMS at 2 Hz with 4 sec averaging at 10 mmol mol-1 The chamber should be positively pressured to avoid leaks The light source should be uniform within 10% over 90% of the surface area The fluorometer should have an actinic light output of up to 3000 umol m-2 s-1 at 25 C The fluorometer should have a saturating light output of 16,000 umol m-2 s-1 at 25 - C The operating temperature range for the system should be 0-50 - C with leaf temperature setpoint resolution of 0.1 - C The leaf area for the chamber should be large enough to support accurate gas exchange on leaves with low photosynthetic rates (~6 cm2). Brand Name Required: LI-COR LI-6800F Evaluation Factors: Lowest price, technically acceptable. The government intends to award a firm-fixed price award based on the lowest price technically acceptable product. The lowest priced product will be evaluated first; if not found acceptable, the next lowest priced product will be evaluated, and so on until an acceptable product is identified. The government will not review higher priced products if the lowest priced product is determined to be technically acceptable. For a vendor's products to be considered technically acceptable, they must meet all of the technical requirements identified in the solicitation. Key Deliverables: Portable Photosynthesis System Fluorometer Delivery Training Delivery: Delivery is to be made to the USDA-ARS GCPRU located at 1201 W Gregory Dr, Room 197, Urbana, IL 61801 within 30 days of award. The vendor shall provide all items F.O.B: destination. Location of the Government site is aboard USDA-ARS Urbana, IL and will be identified in the contract. The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed Price contract. Submitting a Quote: To be eligible for an award, all contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a current and active registration. A contractor can contact SAM by calling +1 (555) 000-0000 or e-mail at www.sam.gov. NO EXCEPTIONS. A DUNS (Dun and Bradstreet) number is required in order to register. Vendor must also include their DUNS# on their quote. Also, to be eligible, all vendors must be NDAA 889 Certified. If they do not currently have a NDAA 889 Certification, then they must complete the attached NDAA 889 Certification form and submit it to contact@example.gov so that they can be added to the list of NDAA 889 Certified vendors. The submission and payment of invoices on the resulting contract will be made through the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). As such, vendors must be currently registered or register in IPP in order to be able to submit and receive payment on invoices for the resulting contract. Offerors responding to this announcement shall submit their quote on SF 1449 (see attached). The quote should include all fees, delivery charges, and/or surcharges. This will be a tax-exempt purchase. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Please email all quotes in writing on the SF 1449 to contact@example.gov by no later than Monday, September 27, 2021 at 12:00 PM Central Standard Time. Questions in regards to this combined synopsis/solicitation must be submitted through email and are due no later than 5:00 PM CST on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Answers to any questions received by that time will be posted as an amendment to this combined synopsis/solicitation.