The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of five new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include cotton, guar, ryegrass and wheat.

The five 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 five certificates are:

• the DP 340 variety of cotton, developed by O & A Enterprises Inc., Maricopa, Arizona;
• the DP 675 variety of cotton, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Company LLC., Scott, Mississippi;
• the Matador* variety of guar, developed by Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas and Halliburton Energy Services Inc., Duncan, Oklahoma;
• the Elfkin variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by DLF International Sees and Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, Halsey, Oregon; and
• the Albion* variety of common wheat, developed by Grant H. Torrey Jr. for CHS Inc., Moses Lake, Washington.

* 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.