Pulse Crop Health Initiative (PCHI)
Forecasted
Pulse Crop Health Initiative (PCHI) supports collaborative researchers studying pulse consumption, food functionality, and production systems to improve human health, food security, and sustainability.
Funder: USA Pulses
Due Dates (Anticipated): April 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Typically 2–4-year projects; funds distributed in 12-month periods
Summary: Supports collaborative pulse crop research addressing human health, food functionality, food security, and sustainable production.
Key Information: Research must primarily focus on dry peas, lentils, chickpeas, or dry beans; each PI may submit up to two plans.
Description
The Pulse Crop Health Initiative (PCHI), presented by USA Pulses, supports collaborative research on pulse crops to address health and sustainability challenges in the United States and globally. Its Steering Committee includes commodity group, food industry, health community, and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) representatives. The committee recommends projects to USDA-ARS for funding from congressional appropriations, emphasizing national priorities and scientific merit.
The initiative seeks to establish the health and nutritional benefits of regular pulse consumption, improve the sustainability of pulse production, and increase consumption through better functionality of whole pulses and pulse ingredients in foods. Its research agenda spans human health and chronic disease prevention, functionality traits and food security, and sustainable production systems. The FY26 call describes the functionality priority as “Functionality Traits & Crop Improvement.”
