USDA Licenses 19 Plant Varieties

WASHINGTON - Feb. 20/07 - SNS -- The USDA issued certificates of protection to developers of 19 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include coleus, corn, fescue, pepper, wheat and vinca.

The 19 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 19 certificates are:

- the Kakegawa CE12, Kakegawa CE13, Kakegawa CE14, and Kakegawa CE16 varieties of coleus, developed by Sakata Seed Corporation, Yokohama, Japan;

- the I325369, I325350, and I180581 varieties of field corn, developed by Monsanto Technology LLC, DeKalb, Ill.;

- the Compass* and Culumbra II* varieties of Chewing fescue, developed by Advanta Seeds, B.V., Kapelle, The Netherlands;

- the TAM Mild Habanero variety of pepper, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas;

- the Guymon* variety of common wheat, developed by Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES), Stillwater, Okla.;

- the Platte2* variety of common wheat, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Junction City, Kan.;

- the Rush and Eddy varieties of common wheat, developed by WestBred LLC, Bozeman, Mont.; and

- the Pacifica Orchid Halo, Pacifica Rose Halo, Pacifica Cherry Halo, Pacifica Magenta Halo, and Lavender Blue 99-665 varieties of vinca, developed by PanAmerican Seed, a division of Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, Ill.;

* 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 (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).