Pulse Australia has created a series of training and up-skilling courses available for those interested in learning more about pulses. 

Training courses include 2 day sessions conducted by Pulse Australia in association with the QDAFF. The course is designed to provide farmers, agronomists and advisors with both the technical knowledge and practical skills required to achieve more reliable and profitable chickpea production. 

Visit their website for a full list of training courses and sign up today!

The Australian IYP Gala Launch Dinner was held on 28 January 2016 at the Melbourne Museum. 

The event was the first of it's kind dedicated entirely to the Australian Pulse industry and was supported by 330 delegates from across the pulse value chain; including pulse producers, leading Australian and global trade businesses, community leaders, consumers and government representatives. 

Evening highlights included:

  • Annabel Crabb, host of Kitchen Cabinet and author of The Wife Draught, provided Master of Ceremony duties for the evening. 
  • A delicious seasonal take of the Australian Signature Pulse dish served as entree, prepared by Australia's IYP Advocate and Star of ABC's The Cook and the Chef, Simon Bryant. 
  • Keynote presentation from Mr Hakan Bahceci, Global Pulse Confederation IYP Chair and CEO of Hakan Agro DMCC,
  • Keynote presentation from Senator Anne Ruston, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources,
  • A Symbolic planting of pulses by Mr Bahceci, Senator Ruston, Ms Danielle Green, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Major Events and Regional Victoria, Georgie Aley and Peter Wilson, Signified the year long commitment to growing pulse production and consumption through the key IYP themes. 
  • The entertaining fundraising auction led by Elders Auctioneer, Ron Rutledge, raising $34,750 in proceeds.

The event was a great success, building momentum and awareness for IYP 2016 and the potential to promote the pulse industry nationally and globally over the coming months.

Activity following the Launch Dinner

All registered companies are encouraged to continue to engage in IYP in one or more of the following ways:

  • Consider becoming an event partner or becoming an IYP Supporting Partner. The Supporting Partnership option starts from $2,200 and for this contribution (to be reinvested in IYP activities in Australia) your company will receive recognition on the IYP website (www.glnc.org.au/iyp/sponsors), at IYP events and be provided with a Stakeholder resource pack that enables you to include branding in your company communications as an IYP Supporting Partner. As you may be aware, IYP is a collaborative effort and therefore has no assigned funding other than what can be sourced through partnerships. The more support Australia can muster, the greater things we can do for promoting and improving our pulse industry. 
  • Contact Rebecca to discuss potential projects or events that your company has involvement with and how you can incorporate IYP 2016 as a part of the activity. 
  • Stay engaged on social media through the #AusIYP16, #LovePulses and #IYP2016 handles and follow the International Year of Pulses - Australia Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ausiyp16/

Jaipur - February 19, 2016 - A team of students from the Institute of Hotel Management in Bangalore have won an Indian-wide food competition for developing innovative dishes using pulses.  Alok Prasad, Aseem Kumar, Harsh Bansal, and Saurabh Agarwal used adzuki beans, red split lentils, black gram and other ingredients to create “Adzuki Coins” a wonderful new snack. 

Judged in a competition during the Pulses Conclave in Jaipur, India, hosted by the India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), students from across the country entered creative new uses of pulses as food ingredients.  “The depth of the innovation and creativity was striking,” said Pravin Dongre, Chairman of the IPGA.  “It was an honour to recognise the team from Bangalore among the 36 entries initially received. This is one step on the nutrition side of food security and IPGA will also be working to increase productivity in pulses in India – a vital issue to national and international food security.”

“There is really a bright future for the Indian food sector,” said Dr. Chris Lannon of the McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics in Canada.  McGill and the International Development Research Centre of Canada facilitated the contest in conjunction with IPGA and the Global Pulse Confederation.   “We supported this effort to raise the profile of pulses and to foster young food science talent in India. With outstanding entries from all regions of India, it was clear that there are exceptional young thinkers working on new uses for pulses.”

The #LovePulses Products Showcase is being held in countries around the world to better illustrate the role for pulses in new and creative ways.  Pulses are a vital part of the world’s food supply, and the goal is to further their use as a great source of protein, fibre and micronutrients.  The United Nations declared that 2016 is the International Year of Pulses and it couldn’t be a better year to focus on the role of dal, gram and beans. In recognition of the year, IPGA and ICRISAT this week also signed a memorandum of understanding to increase research and improve pulse yields.

Six finalists were brought to Jaipur for the competition representing the winning team from Bangalore plus the Institute of Hotel Management, Sri Shakti, Hyderabad; D.Y. Patil University, School of Hotel Management and Tourism Studies, Mumbai; Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Bahir; National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Sonipat ; CT Institute of Hotel Management, Punjab.

The winning recipe was:

ADZUKI COINS

Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore

Ingredients

Adzuki beans 25 gms

Red split lentil  30 gms

Black gram 10 gms

Quinoa 10 gms

Nuts 15 gms

Greens 5 gms

Spices 

Method

  • Soak all the pulses overnight
  • Blanch all the nuts and greens
  • Cook quinoa and dry it.
  • Boil all the pulses separately.
  • Take a vessel, add Adzuki beans, red split lentil, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, greens, nuts, black pepper corns, caraway seeds, garlic, green chili, olive oil and seasoned with salt and white pepper powder.
  • Make a paste out of the above.
  • Cook the paste out of the above.
  • Cook the paste till semi-hard mixture at low flame.
  • Portion the above mixture, make small patties (18g-20g) and cool it.
  • Apply a layer of seasoned choice on forcemeat (optional for non-vegetarians)
  • Make a tempura batter out of refined flour, black gram paste, salt and pepper.
  • Coat the patties into batter and crust with quinoa.
  • Rest for 1 or 2 hrs
  • Patties can be baked or deep fried as desired.

The “Pulses Meals Exhibition and Lunch Organisation” held on 23rd January, 2016 by Mersin Commodity Exchange in cooperation with TAŞPAKON (Confederation of all chefs and pastry chefs ) for the honour of IYP-International Pulses Year 2016 drew great interest.

Participants of the organisation were, Mersin Governor Özdemir Çakacak, Canadian Ambassador John Holmes, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Burhanettin Kocamaz, high-ranking and related bureaucrats, representives of non-governmental organizations,  movers and shakers of Pulses and employees of sector.

Both the best 20 chefs from all around Turkey ( Istanbul, Ankara, Van, Erzurum, Elazığ, Kütahya, Adana, Antalya etc.) and 6 chefs from Mersin prepared 120 pulses meals, hand in glove, and this was a first in the
world.

There were traditional, regional, innovative meals in the Pulses Meals Exhibition, while all the visitors showed great interest to the exhibition.

After the Exhibition, all participants and also visitors were served a lunch consisting of pulse-based meals.

During the lunch the Chairman of Mersin Commodity Exchange, Ö.Abdullah Özdemir, The Chairman of GPC- Global Pulse Confederation Hüseyin Arslan, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Burhanettin Kocamaz, Canada Ambassador John Holmes and Mersin Governor Özdemir Çakacak gave a speech .

The presenter of the organisation Wilco Van Herpen (journalist writing in Hürriyet Daily News, a producer
and gourmet chef) expressed his self by saying “I’ve been to various organizations up to today, but I‘m so
glad to be here now. This organisation is one of the best one’s I‘ve ever seen. It’s so interesting, because it is about agriculture, it is about business, it’s about flavor, it’s about aesthetic”.

The Chairman of Mersin Commodity Exchang, Ö. Abdullah Özdemir, expressed that all meals as part of The Pulses Meals Exhibition will share recipes on the website of the Commodity Exchange. They will also prepare a recipe book consisting of the mentioned Pulses Meals.

Watch the video:

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed an infographic to share the knowledge of pulses. "Surprising facts about pulses you might not know" share 10 powerful facts about the sustainability and nutrition benefits of pulses.

Download the infographic from the FAO resource bank here.

The Netherlands have worked to create an informative booklet, about the benefits of pulses, to give to consumers for free. This booklet has been distributed at many pop-up and planned events including the Nationale Gezondheidsbeurs (National Health Fair), Press Releases, and Food Truck events. 

Check out this awesome booklet, which reads completely in Dutch:

Blije Boon Inspiratieboekje