The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) invites manufacturers of automated imaging instrumentation to partner in cooperative research and development resulting in technology to determine broken kernels, whole kernels, and milling yield, in percentage by mass, in short, medium and long-grain milled rice.
The goal is to develop a commercially available instrument useful for official inspection results at AMS field offices and official service provider locations.
Manufacturers must be willing to enter into a cooperative research and development agreement with AMS that includes mutually agreed-upon roles and responsibilities, provides a suitable instrument, and technical expertise to facilitate development of algorithms and/or calibrations. AMS will provide rice samples and inspection expertise to facilitate method development and assess instrument suitability.
Notice and request for proposals, Docket # AMS-FGIS-21-0088, published in the Federal Register February 15, 2022.
For more information contact Timothy Norden, Chief Scientist, Federal Grain Inspection Service, Technology and Science Division: (816) 702-3803 or Timothy.D.Norden@usda.gov.
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