The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 11 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, bluegrass, cotton, lettuce, oat and rice.

The 11 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 11 certificates are:

• the NuGlade, Impact, Explorer varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by J.R. Simplot Company, Post Falls, Idaho;
• the I362697 variety of field corn, developed by DEKALB Genetics Corporation, DeKalb, Ill.;
• the ST 373 and BXN 16 varieties of cotton, developed by Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company, Memphis, Tenn.;
• the DP 451 B/RR variety of cotton, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Corporation, Scott, Miss.
• the Granada variety of lettuce, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc., Oxnard. Calif.;
• the Diamond Back variety of lettuce, developed by Central Valley Seeds, Inc., Salinas, Calif.;
• the Horizon 314 variety of oat, developed by Florida Agricultural Experiment Station (FAES) and University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., (UGARF), Gainesville, Fla.; and
• the Priscilla variety of rice, developed by Mississippi Agricultural Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, Miss.

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/pvp.htm.