The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 20 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, lettuce, peanut, rice and wheat.

The 20 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 20 certificates are:

• the I294213, I180576, and I060064 varieties of field corn, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC, DeKalb, Illinois;

• the Top Billing, PX 06510071, Pacheco, and Rhino varieties of lettuce, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc., Oxnard, California;

• the Casino variety of lettuce, developed by Pybas Vegetable Seed Co. Inc., Santa Maria, California;

• the Sumida 626-S variety of lettuce, developed by Progeny Advanced Genetics, Inc., Salinas, California;

• the Caliente and Green Sun varieties of lettuce, developed by Nunhems BV, the Netherlands;

• the Goliath* variety of peanut, developed by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Caorlina; 

• the Phillips* and Brantley* varieties of peanut, developed by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina., and U.S. Government as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.; 

• the Prachinburi 2 variety of rice, developed by Department of Agriculture, Thailand, Chatuchak, Bangkok; 

• the Bynum*, Norris*, and Hyalite* varieties of common wheat, developed by Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Bozeman, Montana; and 

• the Kelby* and AgriPro Paladin* varieties of common wheat, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Junction  City, Kansas. 

* In the United States, seed of this variety shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed, and shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights.

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