Dil Thavarajah has joined the pulse crop program as an assistant professor-pulse quality and human nutrition in the North Dakota State University School of Food Systems. Thavarajah will be setting up a lab to study pulse crop quality and nutrition. It will be the first pulse quality and nutrition lab in the country.

The pulse crop industry in North Dakota continues to grow as NDSU pulse crop breeders develop new varieties that have high yields, high-quality seed and good agronomic traits.

“Approximately one-third of the world’s population suffers from vitamin or mineral malnutrition,” Thavarajah says. “Pulse crops could be a food-based solution to provide the most bioavailable forms of minerals and vitamins to help those suffering from malnutrition and for millions of those in Western countries who are vegetarians. My research has shown that pulse crops could provide sufficient daily iron, zinc, selenium and other micronutrient requirements by serving 50 grams of pulse crops.”

For her research and setting up the pulse crop quality and nutrition lab, Thavarajah has identified some key groups with which to collaborate. These groups include NDSU and international pulse breeding teams, the human nutrition collaborative team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Lab and those doing pulse crop human nutrition research elsewhere in the world.

“We need to have all these experts work together to develop improved pulse crops and products that will benefit the producer and the consumer,” Thavarajah says.

“This is the first pulse quality lab in the nation and has been a priority for the pulse industry for many years,” says Shannon Berndt, executive director of the Northern Pulse Growers Association in Bismarck. “We are very excited about the knowledge and expertise that Dr. Thavarajah brings to the position and look forward to working with her. Our industry appreciates the tremendous support we have received from NDSU, State Board of Agriculture Research and Education and the North Dakota Legislature.”

For producers, pulse crops can cut costs by cutting input costs through nitrogen fixation, providing a break in disease and weed cycles, and providing a yield bump in subsequently planted crops.

“In addition, pulses may provide solutions to some of today’s health problems, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes,” Berndt says. “Also, the food industry has shown a tremendous amount of interest in utilizing pulses as ingredients.”

Thavarajah earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

NDSU Agriculture Communication