New Mexico Chile Association Competitive Grants Program
During the State of New Mexico’s 2007-2009 legislative sessions, the New Mexico Chile Association (NMCA) successfully lobbied to secure recurring funding in support of the chile industry. These monies have since been rolled into the base budgets of the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service, and the NM Department of Agriculture. The funds for FY25 have been awarded. Please check back in Spring 2025 for the FY26 request for proposals.
Awarded Proposals
Chile Award List by Fiscal Year
| Award Year | Project Investigator(s) | Project Title |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Brian Schutte |
Determining Costs and Benefits of Crop Rotations for Improved Weed Control in Chile(Two-year award) |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Willis Fedio |
Establishment of an ISO 17025 Accredited Chile Resource Center at the NMSU Food Safety Laboratory(Two-year award) |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Steve Hanson |
Evaluation of sustainable methods for disease control in chile production(Two-year award) |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Xiufen Li |
Boosting Chile Pepper Resilience: Investigating Plant-Soil-Microbe Interactions under Drought, Salinity, and Organic Amendments in Arid and Semi-arid Climates(Two-year award) |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Dennis Lozada |
Marker-assisted selection for easy destemming and mechanical harvestability traits in New Mexican chile pepper (Two-year award) |
| 2024-2025 |
PI: Chadelle Robinson |
Chile Data – Update Jay Lillywhite’s “New Mexico Chile Association, Chile Data” |
| 2023-2024 |
PI: Stephanie Walker |
Reinvigorating Chile Production in NM through Variety Development, Mechanization and Flavor Profiling (Two-year award) |
| 2023-2024 |
PI: Soum Sanogo |
Enhancing Microbial Recruitment and Persistence in Cover Crop Mixtures for Control of Soilborne Pathogens in Chile Pepper (Two-year award) |
| 2023-2024 |
PI: Luis Sabillon |
Assessment of Mycological Quality and Mycotoxin Contamination of New Mexico Red Chile and Paprika Production Chain (Two-year award) |
| 2023-2024 |
PI: Dennis Lozada |
The “Jalapeño Factor”: Epigenomic and transcriptomic approaches to identify genetic factors contributing to Phytophthora capsici resistance in jalapeño peppers (Two-year award) |
| 2023-2024 |
PI: Steve Hanson |
Evaluation of sustainable approaches for reducing disease-associated losses in chile production |
| 2022-2023 | PI: Luis Sabillon Co-PI: Soum Sanogo |
Photodynamic Decontamination: A promising approach to controlling seedborne and seedling plant pathogens and ensuring sustainable Chile Pepper production in NM (Two-year award) |
| 2022-2023 | PI: Soum Sanogo Co-PI: Dennis Lozada |
Management of Chile Wilt Using Continuous Application of Biologicals, Genetic Soil Disinfection, and Induced Disease Resistance |
| 2022-2023 | PI: Luis Sabillon Co-PI: Sergio Martinez-Monteagudo |
Investigation the Use of High Intensity Light Emitting Diodes for the Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens in Paprika Powder (Two-year award) |
| 2022-2023 | PI: Brian Shutte Co-PI: Erik Lehnhoff |
Assessing Crop Rotations and Herbicide Methods for Improved Weed Control in Chile |
| 2021-2022 | PI: Nancy C. Flores Co-PIs: Ivette Guzman; Chadelle Robinson |
Savor the Flavor: Characterization and Marketing of New Mexico Red Chile Sauces |
| 2021-2022 | PI: Efren Delgado Co-PI: Patricia Cabrales-Arellano |
Transcriptome analysis of Phytophthora blight (Phytophthora capsici) interaction and identifying genes involved in the infection process for early detection of infected plants |
| 2021-2022 | PI: Stephen Hanson Co-PIs: Ivette Guzman; Soum Sanogo; Stephanie Walker |
Targeted approaches for improving the competitiveness of chile production in NM |
| 2021-2022 | PI: Soum Sanogo; John Idowu | Evaluation of Biorational Approaches for the Control of Chile Wilt Pathogens |
| 2021-2022 | PI: Dennis Lozada Co-PI: Stephanie Walker |
Genomics-assisted Breeding for the Development of Machine Harvestable Chile Peppers in New Mexico |
| 2021-2022 |
PI: Erik Lehnhoff; Brian Schutte; Soum Sanogo |
Barley Cover Crops to Improve Weed and Disease Management in Chile (Two-year award) |
| 2020-2021 | PI: Ivette Guzman; Jose Ortega-Carranza; Hasti Mozaffari | ACES Competitive Awards Program | Chile Nutrition: Employing Human Cells to Determine the Absorption of Chile Compounds by the Human Gut |
| 2020-2021 | PI: Soam Sanogo and John Idowu | ACES Competitive Awards Program | Evaluation of Biorational Approaches for the Control of Seedling Pathogens, Phytophthora blight, and Verticillium wilt in Chile Pepper |
| 2020-2021 | PI: Erik Lehnhoff; Brian Schutte; Soum Sanogo | ACES Competitive Awards Program | Barley Cover Crops to Improve Weed and Disease Management in Chile |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Drs. Jose Luis Ortega and Champa Sengupta-Gopalan | Cloning and Characterization of Capsicum annuum genes cosegregating with the major QTL region that confer resistance to Phytophthora capsici |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Nag Kodali | Fabrication and Testing of double-twisted Automated Commercial Chile and Jalapeno Destemmer |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Dr. Stephanie J. Walker | Advancing Chile Mechanization and Cultivar Improvement through Collaborative Breeding Research |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Willis Fedio | Ensuring the Safety of New Mexico's Chile Products Using In-Plant Molecular Detection of Pathogens |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Soum Sanogo, John Idowu | Evaluation of Biorational Approaches for the Control of Seedling Pathogens, Phytophthora blight and Verticillium wilt in Chile Pepper |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Brain Schutte and Erik Lehnhoff | Developing Practical Methods for Reducing Hand Hoeing Requirements in Chile |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Gary D. Rayson, Efren Delgado | Food Safety: Point-of-Production Chile Screening for Food-Borne Pathogens |
| 2019-2020 | PI: Paul W. Bosland | Classical and Genomic Approaches to Breeding Chiles with Increased Disease Resistant, Quality, and Yield for New Mexico |