Sourcing plant material of protected varieties

The availability and sourcing of plant material for varieties, necessary for evaluation alongside plants of candidate varieties in plant variety right growing trials, continues to be problematic with ongoing difficulties.

This is clearly an issue for non-protected varieties with no immediate solution. In recent years the availability of plants of protected varieties is also becoming an increasing problem.

The granting of a plant variety right comes with certain obligations with respect to official access to plant material. The Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 requires that plant material of protected varieties be available on request from the Plant Variety Rights Office for the testing of other varieties. Section 16 of the Act provides for the possible cancellation of a grant of plant variety rights if representative plants of a protected variety are not available. 

The PVR Office requests that the availability of plants for PVR testing or other PVR Office purposes be taken into consideration for variety management plans or strategies.