Plant variety protection (PBR) is an intellectual property right granted to a plant breeder of a registered plant variety for the sole purpose of providing legal protection of that plant variety to the plant breeder. In India, the plant variety protection and farmers rights are governed by the Plant Variety Protection & Farmers Rights Act, 2001. This Act seeks to establish an effective system for the protection of the plant variety and the rights of the plant breeders and the farmers.
A certificate of registration of a variety under this Act grants the holder of the certificate of registration, or the successor of the holder, his representative or his licence holder, an exclusive right to cultivate, market, transport, import or export that variety. You can apply for the registration of plant varieties at the office of registrar, plant variety registration, PPV & FRA, New Delhi.
What are registerable plant varieties in India?
Four types of plant varieties can be registered under PPVFR Act, 2001.
- New varieties
- Extant variety
- Farmers’ variety
- Essentially derived variety (EDV)
Requirements for Obtaining Plant Variety Protection
In order to be eligible for plant variety rights (PVR), a new variety must pass official tests to determine its distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS). These independent tests for most crop species take two years. The following are the requirements for a variety to be eligible for PVR:
- Distinctness: a variety must be distinguishable from other existing varieties by one or more of the following characteristics
- Uniformity: individual plants of the same plant variety must have sufficient uniformity in a number of key characteristics
- Stability: a plant variety is considered stable if the plants reproduce true to type from generation to generation.
This DUS test is carried out for each new variety and independent experts review the results to determine if all the plant variety rights criteria are met. All plant varieties are protected for 25 years with the exception of trees, vines and potatoes which are protected for 30 years.
