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Impact Report

For plan Commercial Vegetable Production
Date January 7, 2009, 10:10 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report Conducted the fourth annual ‘Sustainable Agriculture Workshop’ in Santa Fe, NM on December 9, 2007, with the cooperation of Patrick Torres, County Extension Agent and sponsored by WSARE. The program provided an overview of alternative crops for growers to enhance sustainable crop production in New Mexico. Conducted the Chile Field Day, Aug 19, 2008. This event increased awareness of the New Mexican chile industry, and also served to showcase chile field research projects at NMSU. Assisted in presenting the NM Chile Conference, Feb 5, 2008. Coordinated the afternoon topics and speakers. Serve as co-PI, of the Chile Yield Project. This group, composed of a multidisciplinary team of scientists, was assembled to investigate reported yield reductions in chile. Research plots at the Leyendecker and the Artesia Science Centers were maintained to continue a long-term chile rotational study. Chaired and coordinated the Chile Mechanization Working group. This committee is composed of chile breeders, growers, industry reps, and agricultural engineers. The purpose of the group is to coordinate efforts and plan research towards the successfully mechanize harvest of green chile and cayenne peppers. Green Chile Breeding for Mechanization. Continued efforts to breed green chile for improved machine harvest efficiency. Coordinated the green chile mechanical harvest test at Leyendecker and conducted the trials in conjunction with agricultural engineers at the USDA Cotton Ginning Lab and M-Tech. Collected plant attribute data and harvest quality data from five varieties of chile to analyze harvest efficiency compared to harvester head parameters and type. Made special arrangements to borrow Israeli harvester from Shane Franzoy to test and demonstrate at Leyendecker. Also, made plant selection from ‘Heritage NM 6-4’ for machine harvest attributes. Coordinated the red chile and paprika breeding program. Continued efforts to breed high yielding, highly pigmented chile varieties suitable for machine harvest. This long-term program increases profitability for chile growers in the state by providing higher yield and quality red chile varieties. Machine harvest adaptation will increase competitiveness for growers in the state, and reduce the labor requirements for production. Organized and chair the New Mexico WSARE advisory board. This group consists of NMDA, NRCS, growers, and researchers interested in sustainable agriculture. The purpose is to discuss and plan the yearly Sustainable Agriculture Workshop. Served as planning committee member and local coordinator for the WSARE Regional Planning Conference held in Albuquerque, June 10-12, 2008. This conference involved the coordinated effort of five states: New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Selected individuals from each state were selected and invited to participate in brainstorming activities to shape the future direction of WSARE activities.