Plant variety listing

About
What you should do
How long does it take
How much does it cost
Forms to complete
Who to contact

 

 

About registering a plant variety

Before you can sell seed or cuttings (propagating material) of certain kinds of plant in South Africa you must apply at the Registrar for Plant Improvement for your new plant variety to be recognised.

You may request that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) include the new plant variety in the variety lists in terms of the Plant Improvement Act, 1976 (Table 2 of the Act).

The DALRRD maintains the variety lists for the most important agricultural, vegetable and fruit crops. The determining factor is the importance of a plant to the South African economy.

A plant variety may be listed (recognised) if the following requirements are met:

  • Propagating material must comply with the distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) requirements:
    • clearly distinguishable from any other variety of the same species
    • uniform (homogeneous), i.e. all the plants in a planting must look similar and have the same characteristics
    • stable i.e. the plants of the particular variety must still look like the original plants after repeated cultivation
    • an acceptable denomination.

What you should do

  1. Submit the following to the Registrar for Plant Improvement:
    • a fully completed application form
    • a technical questionnaire
    • the prescribed application and examination fees
    • seed or propagating material
    • written authorisation from the owner, if you have not bred, selected or developed the variety.
  2. To determine the difference of a new variety, clearly indicate on the technical questionnaire with which other varieties known in South Africa the new variety should be compared.
  3. There are prescribed dates on which documents and propagating material must be submitted to the Registrar. These dates, the quantities of propagating material to be submitted and where it must be delivered are available on request from the Registrar.
  4. If protection in terms of plant breeders’ rights  is required as well, you should submit the applications simultaneously to save time and money.

How long does it take

The process of variety listing will take one to two growing seasons.

How much does it cost

Tariffs for 2023/24

Forms to complete

(Forms are provided in PDF format. To open PDF documents, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer.)

Who to contact

 

National office

Director: Plant Production
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Private bag x250
PRETORIA

Tel: 012 319 6079/6072
Fax: 027 12 319 6372
E -mail: DPP@dalrrd.gov.za

Physical address:  Harvest House, 30 Hamilton Street, Arcadia, Pretoria
 

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