Development of NM Green Chile Cultivars for Mechanization Dr. Stephanie Walker Extension Vegetable Specialist Dept. of Extension Plant Sciences

Green Chile is currently 100% hand-harvested Usually two or more harvests Photo courtesy of Paul Funk

Introduction NM-type green chile is historically a labor-intensive crop Depending on the current situation, adequate labor is not always available when needed Labor represents greater than 50% of total production costs in hand-harvested system Developed countries - with relatively high wages - are at a disadvantage in producing labor intensive crops compared to countries with low wages Mechanization is one of the key methods to level the playing field & help to ensure a timely harvest However, we’re forced to play ‘catch up’ following years of little funding for specialty crop mechanization. Cooperative Extension Service

Green Chile - Challenges to Mechanical Harvest Fruit are not uniform & don’t ‘roll’ making them difficult to orient Destemming is important, but mechanically difficult Fruit are easily damaged when mechanically harvested Currently available varieties were not developed for a mechanized system Potential yield loss with once-over mechanical harvest. Woody stems in the processed product are both a quality defect, but also a safety hazard. With hand harvested green chile, stems are popped off the fruit in the field at the same time they’re picked. So research efforts in mechanical harvest have been ongoing in several areas; agricultural engineers have evaluated different picking heads types, evaluated methods to orient & mechanically remove chile stems.

Chile Mechanization Research Collaboration between agricultural engineers, crop physiologists and chile breeders is critical for advancing green chile mechanization Past efforts identified an Etgar (Bet-Lehem-Haglillet, Israel) mechanical chile harvester for efficient pick of NM green chile with less fruit damage Since inception of the Chile Task Force/ now the NM Chile Association, New cultivars need to be tested with new or improved mechanical developments

Breeding Goals for NM-type Green Chile for Mechanized System Determinate fruit set Upright habit; fruit off ground Fruit resistance to breakage Strong, single stem Fruit borne on outside of the canopy Well anchored root system For Mechanical Destemming: Uniform, straight fruit & easy destemming ‘NuMex Joe E. Parker’ Including protruded calyx

Green Chile Cultivar Development for Mechanical Harvest Goal: Open-pollinated, high yielding cultivars that are highly efficient for mechanical harvest and destemming Originated from cross between easy destemming line and ‘NuMex Joe E. Parker’ 2010 - 2015: Field selections made for -yield -fruit size -fruit straightness -easy destemming -flavor & heat

Green Chile Mechanical Harvest –Breeding Line Evaluation - 2016 Conducted at NMSU’s Ag. Science Center in Los Lunas Five green chile breeding lines (101W16, 102W16, 103W16, 104W16, 105W16) and ‘NuMex Joe Parker’ (control) / Also five observational lines (107W16-111W16) Five replications, randomized complete block design Furrow-irrigated; direct seeded 04/14/16; harvested 08/31/16 Harvested using an Etgar Series MOSES 1010 (Bet-Lehem-Haglillet, Israel)

Results

Green Chile Mechanical Harvest – Breeding Line Evaluation - Results With the exception of ‘103W16’, all breeding lines provided more marketable green yield than ‘JEP’, although the differences were not statistically significant ‘Joe E. Parker’ left significantly more fruit in the field compared to all breeding lines evaluated The breeding lines show great promise for use in a mechanized system; trials will be repeated in Los Lunas and Las Cruces in 2017 for potential release

Additional NMSU / USDA-ARS Green Chile Mechanical Harvest Research Activities in 2016 Poster Presentations: Comparison of Six New Mexican Type Green Chile (Capsicum annuum L) cultivars on Harvest Efficiency with an Etgar® Picker -I. Calsoyas, S. Walker, P. Funk, and R. Steiner Chile Stand Management for Mechanical Green Chile Harvest -C. Havlik, S. Walker, M. Marsalis, B. Schutte, P. Funk and J. Degnan

Thank You! Questions? Research conducted in collaboration with: -Dr. Paul Funk & USDA-ARS Cotton Ginning Lab. crew -NMSU, Los Lunas Ag. Science Center crew -Israel Calsoyas and Charles Havlik, graduate students Funding provided by NM Chile Commission NM Chile Association NMSU, Ag. Experiment Sta.

++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. Stephanie J. Walker Contact Information: ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. Stephanie J. Walker Extension Vegetable Specialist New Mexico State University Office: (575) 646-4398 swalker@nmsu.edu Cooperative Extension Service