The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 10 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, pea, potato, rice, soybean and wheat.

The 10 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 10 certificates are:

• the NP2052 variety of field corn, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.;

• the DS-Admiral* variety of field pea, developed by Danisco Seed, Holeby, Denmark;

• the Vivaldi and Victoria varieties of potato, developed by HZPC Holland B.V., The Netherlands;

• the Honami variety of rice, developed by Nakajima Yoshio Syouten, Shiga, Japan;

• the DP 4750 RR and DP 5989 varieties of soybean, developed by D&PL Technology Holding Corp., Scott, Miss.;

• the BigSky* variety of common wheat, developed by Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Bozeman, Mont.;

• the Tam III* variety of common wheat, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas; and

• the Dapps* variety of common wheat, developed by NDSU Research Foundation, Fargo, N.D.

* 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/pvp.htm.