Groundnut bud necrosis orthotospovirus: An emerging viral problem of pulse crops.

Pulses are vital to sustainable global food systems, supplying plant-based protein, minerals, and vitamins while improving soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation. Cultivated on ~99.26 million ha with ~99.06 million tonnes annual production, their demand is rising, particularly in Asia and Africa. Yet production stability is increasingly threatened by climate variability, expanding vector niches, and predominantly rain-fed cultivation systems, where viral diseases impose major yield losses. While begomovirus-induced yellow mosaic disease remains the most destructive in Asia, the thrips-borne groundnut bud necrosis orthotospovirus (GBNV: Orthotospovirus arachinecrosis) is rapidly reshaping the viral disease scenario in Indian pulse crops. GBNV infections are now recorded in mungbean, urdbean, cowpea, French bean, field pea, and wild Vigna species, causing necrotic leaf-curl symptoms. Here, we review how GBNV has emerged as a major threat to the sustainability of pulse-based agro-ecosystems. GBNV shows considerable genetic diversity, indicating ongoing evolution and host expansion. Climate-driven changes in Thrips palmi populations and their efficient persistent-propagative transmission play a central role in disease outbreaks. Resistance breeding remains limited because no resistance genes or QTLs have been identified. Emerging management approaches such as ecosystem-based vector suppression, biocontrol and antiviral agents, and early RNA-level diagnostics, offer promising alternatives to reduce reliance on broad-spectrum insecticides. This review presents a pulse-centric sustainability framing of GBNV and outlines research priorities to strengthen surveillance, breeding, and management strategies within global pulse production systems.