USDA Protects 18 Varieties

WASHINGTON - May 17/07 - SNS -- The USDA issued certificates of protection to developers of 18 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bean, cotton, fescue, pea, potato, soybean and wheat.

The 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 18 certificates are:

-- the Carson, Diplomat, Hayden, Stayton, Renegade, and HERRERA varieties of garden bean, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Boise, Idaho;

-- the NG3969R and ST 3664R varieties of cotton, developed by Stoneville Pedigeed Seed Company, St. Louis;

-- the Zodiac variety of Chewings fescue, developed by Cascade International Seed Company, Aumsville, Ore.;

-- the Jumpstart variety of pea, developed by Brotherton Seed Co., Inc., Moses Lake, Wash.;

-- the Monarch variety of field pea, developed by ProGene Plant Research LLC, Othelle, Wash.;

-- the Baltica variety of potato, developed by Saka – Ragis Pflanzenzucht GbR, Hamburg, Germany;

-- the Dakota Pearl variety of potato, developed by NDSU Research Foundation, Fargo, N.D.;

-- the MFL-159 variety of soybean, developed by Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc., Blacksburg, Va.;

-- the Shocker and Smoky Hill varieties of common wheat, developed by WestBred, LLC, Haven, Kan.;

-- the Bigg Red variety of common wheat, developed by WestBred, LLC, Bozeman, Mont.; and

-- the Patwin* variety of common wheat, developed by The Regents of University of California, Oakland, Calif.

*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).