Assistant Professor Kevin Murphy will discuss all things quinoa at the Innovators Lecture Series in Seattle on April 24.

The Innovators Lecture Series is an event highlighting research made by WSU professors and scientists and promoting informed discussion about matters of vital importance in the 21st century.

Murphy will specifically speak about what quinoa is, its economic potential in the Pacific Northwest, the global impacts of establishing a regional quinoa industry, the challenges in growing quinoa in the Pacific Northwest, and recent WSU research on quinoa, he said.

Quinoa is a very healthy seed originally from the Andes region. It is a common cooking ingredient often used in salads.

Murphy said he hopes his team’s research will bring domestic production of quinoa to the U.S. so the farmers here can grow it successfully.

“Our job is to take the risks so the farmers don’t have to so we can make the mistakes out in the field through research,” Murphy said.

Murphy and his team are funded by a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and are testing more than 1,000 quinoa varieties under many Washington farming systems and bioregions, he said.

Murphy’s main goal is to develop varieties that do well in different parts of the state, he said. Right now, Murphy said they have been looking into varieties of quinoa that are both heat and rain tolerant, depending on the area where the quinoa is planted.

“In such an environmentally diverse region it helps tell us where it does well and where it doesn’t and we can find out why,” said Adam Peterson, a crop science graduate student

The group has also been testing when quinoa should be planted, how many seeds should be planted per acre, the amount of irrigation needed, and where it would fit into a wheat rotation.

Murphy will also discuss the current high demand for quinoa and how a processing facility is needed in the Pacific Northwest for farmers to clean the quinoa seeds, he said.

Besides research on the growth of quinoa in the Pacific Northwest, Murphy and his team have also collaborated with multiple groups at WSU in researching quinoa.

This research includes entomology research to look at insect, pest and disease resistance. Food science faculty looking into the nutritional value, taste and processing. Researchers looking into the economics of quinoa, sociological surveys to find out what the demand for quinoa is. As well as a few projects in Malawi, Africa where students are growing quinoa to give to multiple villages to see if they like it. 

Overall, 10 faculty members are working on quinoa and eight or nine graduate students have quinoa projects. In 2009, no one at WSU was researching the seed.

“Within a project there is a lot of little things that need to be done,” said Hannah Walters, a crop science graduate student. “With new graduate students, we’re learning a lot. It’s a unique opportunity.”

The WSU Eggert Family Organic Farm has also donated $5 million to $7 million to establish a sustainable seed facility to teach students about specialty grains. The facility will potentially include a greenhouse, seed cleaning, a food lab, processing and more.