New Mexico Chile Association Competitive Grants Program

Evaluation of Biorational Approaches for the Control of Seedling Pathogens, Phytophthora blight, and Verticillium wilt in Chile Pepper

Principal Investigators: Soum Sanogo (Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Weed Science, ssanogo@nmsu.edu); "John" Omololu Idowu (Extension Plant Sciences, jidowu@nmsu.edu)

Summary: This project supports the effort of the New Mexico chile industry to identify effective biorational approaches for controlling chile wilt. The project has three objectives: 1) to compare the effects of rotational and cover crops on beneficial microbial populations; 2) to evaluate the development of induced resistance in chile following foliar/soil application of phenolic extracts from pecan shell and husk; and 3) to determine the relationship between production of compounds in jalapeños and reduction in Phytophthora blight.