Chile Spacing Trial

PKG for 2002-02-21 - RUNS 2:01

Intro

As hand harvesting labor for chile becomes increasingly difficult to find, New Mexico State University researchers are working to perfect machine harvesting. Anna Maria Pérez-Wright reports.

Video	Audio
	A plant spacing study by New Mexico State University researchers could help chile growers harvest more of their crop mechanically. NMSU and the New Mexico Chile Pepper Task Force conducted a plant spacing trial at Border Land Farms in Fort Hancock, Texas. Research Specialist Stephanie Walker says the trial evaluated chile which had no spacing between plants, four-inch spacing and eight-inch spacing.
Insert title at :26-:31 Stephanie Walker NMSU Research Specialist	"With height for the machine, you want to be able to get the machine under those pods so that they can be picked and not just crushed and run over. There was some evidence that when plants were closer together, it would force them to grow taller."
	Chile Task Force coordinator Rich Phillips says results indicate plants with no spacing could also save growers money.
Insert title at :46-:51 Rich Phillips NMSU Cooperative Extension Service	"There would be no thinning costs, which are significant costs early in the season, there was reduced weed competition in the higher density plantings, we did not see any significant increase in diseases. We found that there was no significant difference in yield. In fact, there's a trend there that looks as though the higher density plantings would actually give us better yield."
	Machine-harvested red chile creates challenges for processors because it has more trash than hand-harvested. As part of the spacing trial, the crop was machine harvested, weighed, processed and evaluated. Processor Don Biad of Biad Chile says the results bode well for the future of machine harvesting.
Insert title at 1:28-1:33 Don Biad Biad Chile	"I would have to say what Border Land has brought in this year so far, should be the model for where we're all at in the future. We've required no additional equipment, no additional personnel. Uh, and if you run it after or before a load of hand-harvested material, I would venture to say that you can't tell the difference."
	The task force is working with Sandia National Laboratories to develop better cleaning equipment for machine-harvested red chile. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.