The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 24 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants.   They include bentgrass, cotton, fescue, lettuce, rice and soybean.

 The 24 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require 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 24 certificates are:

• the PennLinks II variety of creeping bentgrass, developed by Pure Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;

• the FM 960 B2R, FM 991B2R, FM 800B2R, and FM 989 B2R varieties of cotton, developed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Campbell, Australia;

• the Miscot 8806  variety of cotton, developed by Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, Miss.;

• the PM 2167 RR variety of cotton, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Company, LLC, Scott, Miss.; 

• the Longfellow II  variety of Chewings fescue, developed by DLF International Seeds and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Halsey, Ore.;

• the Big Country and Vandenberg varieties of lettuce, developed by Pybas Vegetable Seed Co., Inc., Santa Maria, Calif.;   

• the Big Star variety of lettuce, developed by Central Valley Seeds, Inc., Salinas, Calif.;  

• the Alpine and Pacer varieties of lettuce, developed by Progeny Advanced Genetics, Inc., Salinas, Calif.;

• the Fortunas, Klingon, and Girondac varieties of lettuce, developed by Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt en Zaadhandel B.V., De Lier, the Netherlands; 

• the Sahara variety of lettuce, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc., Oxnard, Calif.; 

• the Outback variety of lettuce, developed by Enza Zaden Beheer B.V., Enkhuizen, the Netherlands; 

• the Cala* and Hidalgo* varieties of rice, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station/USDA-ARS, College Station, Texas, and Beaumont, Texas; and

• the 1339013, 6084016, 4136015, and 3133014 varieties of soybean, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Company, LLC, Scott, Miss.

 * 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.