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 and potato.

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 fourteen certificates are:

• the ST 5242BR variety of cotton, developed by Emergent Genetics Inc., Memphis, Tenn.;
• the GC-204 variety of cotton, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
• the Del Mar variety of cotton, developed by California Planting Cotton Seed Distributors, Bakersfield, Calif.; and
• the Summit Russet and Defender varieties of potato, developed by Idaho Research Foundation Inc., Moscow, Idaho.
• the Hinson Long Juvenile variety of soybean, developed by Florida Agricultural Experiment Station University of Florida, IFAS, Gainesville, Fla.;
• the AG5701, 0040887, A5944 and SE84950 varieties of soybean, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC., Ames, Iowa;
• the 5002T* variety of soybean, developed by Tennessee Advanced Genetics Inc., Nashville, Tenn.;
• the Super Dirkwin variety of common wheat, developed by Idaho Research Foundation Inc. representing the interests of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station and the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho;
• the NC-Neuse* variety of common wheat, developed by North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, N.C.; and
• the LA841 variety of common wheat, developed by Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, La.

* 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.