The award will be presented in New Delhi on September 12 during Drylands Congress 2026, ‘Transforming Dryland Agriculture with South-South Cooperation’, jointly organised by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The ISSCA Awards recognise agricultural technologies and innovations developed by institutions in the Global South that have demonstrated potential for large-scale adoption and impact. The initiative seeks to promote technology transfer, South-South cooperation and the wider application of agricultural innovations, a release from the university said.
Released in 2004, GPBD 4 has gained popularity among groundnut growers, particularly for its resistance to foliar diseases such as late leaf spot and rust, as well as its yield potential.
According to UAS-Dharwad, an assessment of the variety’s economic impact estimated a minimum benefit of ₹1,760 crore. The estimate was based on 16,540 quintals of breeder seed produced by the university’s Seed Unit between 2006 and 2022, the area subsequently covered under foundation and certified seed production, and the difference in yield value between GPBD 4 and the TMV 2 variety.
The university said the estimate was conservative as it did not take into account the extent of farmer-to-farmer seed dissemination. GPBD 4 is estimated to have been adopted across about 11 lakh hectares.
Genetic resource for research
Besides its adoption by farmers, GPBD 4 has emerged as an important genetic resource for groundnut breeding programmes, particularly those focused on resistance to foliar diseases.The variety has been cited more than 500 times in scientific literature, according to the university. Its disease-resistance and high-yielding traits have also been used in developing five groundnut varieties released by UAS-Dharwad: G2-52, DH-245, DH-232, GPBD 5 and DBG 4.
The university said the variety demonstrated how crop-improvement research could generate both farm-level benefits and wider scientific applications.
Vice-Chancellor of UAS-Dharwad N.B. Prakash has congratulated the team led by M.V.C. Gowda for the recognition.
“GPBD 4 stands as one of the finest achievements of science-led crop improvement at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, with a remarkable impact on farmers, agricultural production and global scientific research,” Dr. Prakash said.
He said the recognition highlighted the university’s focus on developing scientific innovations that could be translated into technologies benefiting farmers.