Registration and Protection of Cultivars

In Brazil, 1657 soybean cultivars are registered in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) in 2017. Every year a large number of new cultivars are submitted to registration and protection. Thus, from the moment that this new cultivar is obtained, the registration allows the production and commercialization of the seeds in the country. This process ensures the genetic identity and the varietal quality of the cultivars. In addition, the protection of cultivars guarantees the intellectual rights to the breeders and enables public and private research companies to benefit, as it guarantees the continuity of breeding programs, with the partial or total use of these materials. For the registration of a particular cultivar in the National Register of Cultivars (RNC), it must first be submitted to tests to determine the Value of Cultivation and Use (VCU), that is, the intrinsic value of the combination of the agronomic traits of the cultivar with its properties of use in agricultural, industrial, and commercial activities and for unprocessed product consumption. In order to be able to be protected, the cultivar must undergo field tests in which it must have distinctiveness (differences of any other coexistent at the date of the application for protection), uniformity (uniformity among plants within the same generation), and stability (maintenance of traits in successive generations). Thirty seven descriptors are used for the DUS test, 30 of which were compulsory and seven additional. Thus, knowledge of the plant morphology is essential to accurately describe the traits of the cultivar and always ensure the launch of new varieties, which are more productive with desirable traits.