The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of nine new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bluegrass, fescue, lettuce and ryegrass.

The nine 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 nine certificates are:

the Lakeshore variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Novel AG Inc., St. Paul, OR, and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey;

the Biltmore variety of tall fescue, developed by Novel AG Inc., St. Paul, OR;

the Millennium, Aztec II, and Bonsai 2000 varieties of tall fescue, developed by Turf Merchants Inc., Tangent, OR;

the Klamath variety of lettuce, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds Inc., Oxnard CA;

the ProGram variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Ag Biotech of Oregon Inc., Corvallis, OR;

the Somerville variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by ProSeeds Marketing Inc., Jefferson, OR;

the Paragon variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Turf Merchants Inc., Tangent, OR;

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides limited-time 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.