The scientific and economic impact of the foliar disease-resistant peanut variety GPBD 4

The Spanish bunch (Arachis hypogaea subsp fastigiata var vulgaris) cultivars of peanut are early maturing and extensively cultivated in India, but they suffer more from biotic and abiotic stresses than the Virginia types (Arachis hypogaea subsp hypogaea var hypogaea). The loss due to fungal foliar diseases viz., late leaf spot (LLS) and rust is an important constraint world over. Previous attempts to transfer these favourable traits have met with limited success. A high level of resistance is available in Virginia-type germplasm developed through interspecific hybridization. Systematic utilization of these resistance sources was initiated in improving locally adapted Spanish bunch varieties through extensive hybridization and development of large-scale segregating populations. Intensive evaluation of these breeding lines under high disease pressure led to the identification of early maturing, high-yielding and disease-resistant Spanish bunch variety, GPBD 4. Extensive testing and release for cultivation by the AICRIP system, widespread demonstrations on farmers’ fields and organized seed production under public systems led to its quick popularization, and it continued to benefit the farmers and consumers. An estimated economic benefit of INR 17.60 billion was derived from GPBD 4 for the period spanning from 2006 to 2022. GPBD 4 served as the source of resistance to breed at least five released varieties. The development of GPBD 4-based mapping populations, generation of phenotypic data, next-generation sequencing, mapping with molecular markers and narrowing down of genomic regions to identify the candidate genes governing disease resistance under collaborative efforts led to its immense utilization in marker-assisted breeding thereby refining the genomics-driven peanut improvement.