Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA
August 6, 2014

Stephanie Walker, center, NMSU Extension vegetable specialist, talks with chile enthusiasts during last year’s field tour of landrace chile at the Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas. During the Chile Field Day at Los Lunas, Friday, Aug. 22, Walker will speak about the variety trial being conducted at the experimental farm. (NMSU photo by Jane Moorman)

New Mexico State University is home to some of the world’s top experts on growing New Mexico’s famous chile.

Commercial producers and home gardeners in the Middle Rio Grande Valley will have an opportunity to learn the latest information on research being done by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences during a chile field day in Los Lunas.

The free event will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, Aug. 22, at NMSU’s Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas, 1036 Miller Road.

“Please join us for a celebration of chile in New Mexico through presentations and field tours of our chile research plots,” said Mark Marsalis, Los Lunas science center superintendent.

The program, beginning at 9 a.m., will include an overview of the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute by Erica Trevino, and presentations on irrigation strategies for chile by Bernd Maier and weed management research by Brian Schutte.

Updates on the New Mexico Chile Landrace trials and the New Mexico Chile Variety trial being conducted at the Los Lunas experimental farm will also be given by Charles Havlik and Stephanie Walker.

The field day will conclude with a chile roasting demonstration and taste tests.

For more information, call the Los Lunas science center at 505-865-7340.

Website: http://www.nmsu.edu

Published: August 7, 2014