DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity, Stability)

DUS—Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability—is a set of criteria used to evaluate and qualify plant varieties. Distinctness ensures the new variety is clearly different from existing ones. Uniformity confirms that plants within the same variety are consistently similar. Stability guarantees that the characteristic traits of the variety remain unchanged over successive generations. Together, these principles help ensure that a new plant variety is unique, reliable for farming or gardening, and maintains its qualities over time, supporting plant breeding, patenting, and commercial production.