High Humidity Walk-In Plant Growth and Inoculation Chamber

A market survey is being conducted to determine if there are adequate Small Business contractors available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below. This is not a solicitation Announcement or Request for Proposal. It does not constitute any commitment by the Government. No award will result from this notice. The purpose is to conduct market research to gain knowledge of potentially qualified sources. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will be used by the Government to make an appropriate acquisition decision. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will not award a contract on the basis of responses or pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. After completing an analysis of the responses, the Government will determine whether to limit competition to Small Business firms, or to proceed with issuing an unrestricted solicitation, inviting full and open competition.

Description:

One (1) High humidity walk-in plant growth and inoculation chamber environmental room for plant growth and microbial inoculations in accordance with Statement of Work and Specifications.

Room to be used to mimic the proper environments needed for infection of various plant pathogens. This includes maintaining high humidity (above 90%RH with lights off) and a range of temperatures between 15C and 40C. The room must be large enough to hold dozens of whole plants of various sizes. Lighting must be available to maintain normal growth of the plants during the inoculation time periods (typically up to 14 days).

Technical requirements:

In order to carry out experiments to test plants for resistance or susceptibility to various plant pathogens:

• Require a space that can maintain relative humidity at or above 95% for an extended period of time (up to several days).


• Temperature range must be between 15 and 40C.


• Space must occupy a footprint of about 12ft X 10ft at a height of about 8ft.


• Lighting must be 1000 umoles/m2/s at 6 inches and dimmable in 1% increments between 10% and 100%.

Brand name or equal: Percival walk-in room MPR-912L1SW.

Equipment must include:

• Insulated walls and door

• Temperature, humidity, and lighting controller

• Lighting

• Mist generator for humidity maintenance

The North American Industry Classification System NAICS) code is 333415. Size standards in number of employees is 1250.

Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a brief Capabilities Statement which, for this notice, is not expected to be a proposal, but rather short statements regarding the company’s ability to demonstrate their expertise and experience in relation to the areas specified in this notice. Companies should also indicate their business size status for the applicable NAICS code. Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government, would not be cost or time prohibitive, and would not hinder the mission objective of the ARS research location. Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested.

Responses must be submitted electronically by email only to the attention of Contract Specialist, Monte Jordan at monte.jordan@usda.gov not later than 3:00 p.m. CDT on or before Wednesday, August 27,2025. Telephone inquiries will NOT be accepted.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. No proprietary classified confidential or sensitive information shall be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). The USDA will not review any additional information. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. The government is not responsible for locating or securing any information not identified in the response. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.