The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Mission Area has selected technology major IBM — as part of one of the five large business awards worth $620 million to provide software development services and help support USDA’s digital modernization journey.
The estimated worth of the combined task orders to be separately competed under a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) – which over 30 vendors competed on – is $620 million over the next five years, IBM said recently.
IBM can compete to work with the Mission Area to help modernize legacy applications that support the conservation programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA).
“Our team is ready to bring our experience in application modernization to help FPAC deliver modernized systems that assist the conservationists in helping farmers and ranchers reduce soil erosion, enhance water supplies, improve water quality, increase wildlife habitats and reduce damage caused by natural disasters,” said Jay Bellissimo, IBM’s General Manager, U.S. Public Sector and Federal Market.
IBM has assisted USDA across a variety of projects with FPAC, the Forest Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Agriculture Marketing Service.
