The Plant Variety Protection Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 22 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include pea, soybean, sunflower and wheat.

The 22 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The 22 certificates are:

• the Stratus*, Bluebird*, Cebeco Eclipse* and Topeka* varieties of field pea, developed by Cebeco Seeds B.V., Vlijmen, Holland;
• the SN71173, SW84112, SN83541, SN74232, 0103321, 0025340, 0033405, 0053381, 0011824, 0151167, 0049431, and A2869 varieties of soybean, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC, Ames, Iowa;
• the D0030QM, D968VQM, PHA307 and PHA345 varieties of sunflower, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa; and
• the Harding* and Briggs* varieties of common wheat, developed by South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, Brookings, S.D.

*In the United States seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers.

For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax  (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.