What are uniformity and stability of a new plant variety?
The requirements of uniformity and stability in a new plant variety are comparable to the utility requirement in a patent. For an invention to be granted a patent, it must be applicable on an industrial scale. Similarly, a new plant variety can only be eligible for protection if it is usable on a large scale. To meet this requirement, the next generation of a plant variety must possess uniform characteristics. If the next generation of a red chrysanthemum seed yields multiple colors, it fails to meet the uniformity requirement.
In addition to uniformity, stability is also important in plant varieties. It takes time to determine whether a variety can maintain stable properties. For instance, if a wheat variety has a yield of 750 kg per mu in the first year, but this yield decreases to 500 kg and 400 kg in the second and third year, respectively, it does not meet the stability requirement.
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