The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 14 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, rice and peanut.

The 14 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 14 certificates are: 

• the 7SH382 and 6RC172 variety of corn, developed by Agrigenetics Inc., doing business as Mycogen Seeds, Indianapolis, Indiana;

• the NP2222 and NP2316 varieties of corn, developed by Syngenta Seeds Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota;

• the M-206*, M-205* and M-104* varieties of rice, developed by California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation Inc., Biggs, California;

• the CL121*, CL141*, Earl*, Cheniere, Pirogue and CF51* varieties of rice, developed by Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Crowley, Louisiana; and

• the Tamrun OL 02* variety of peanut, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas.

* 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.