New Mexico State University chile pepper research is extremely important to New Mexico’s economy. The chile industry is a $400 million industry and is the only industry in which New Mexico is ranked first in the nation. It provides over 2,000 full time and over 10,000 part time jobs to New Mexicans. The Chile Pepper Institute at NMSU is the only international organization devoted to education, research, and archiving information related to Capsicum and is a recognized research institute in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at NMSU. To ensure the industry stays alive in NM the institute is creating a permanently endowed chile pepper research chair. This chair will help keep chile pepper research at NMSU forever. Without the endowed chair there could possibly be no more chile pepper research which would be devastating to New Mexico’s economy. The endowed chair is the most prestigious and permanent investment a university can make and is a permanent investment in the future of the chile industry. With the chile industry dramatically decreasing from 34,500 acres in 1992 to just under 9,000 acres in 2010 it is very important to ensure that NM chile pepper research continue to help keep the industry alive and well. The endowed chair does not fun any type of GMO research. All research is done using classical breeding methods.
More information is available at the Chili Pepper Institute. www.chilepepperinstitute.org
New Mexico State University