Capsicum Breeding and Genetics

Established in 1888 by Dr. Fabian Garcia, the Chile pepper Breeding and Genetics program at New Mexico State University is considered to be the longest continuous program for the improvement of Chile pepper in the world.

Between 1913 and 2016, the chile pepper breeding program at NMSU has released over 50 varieties of New Mexican, ornamental, 'Cayenne', and 'Habanero' pod type chile peppers.

The breeding program is currently affiliated with the Chile Pepper Institute, founded in 1992, and regarded as "the only international, non-profit organization devoted to education and research related to Capsicum, or chile peppers".

In 2019, the Dr. Paul Bosland Endowment was created to fund the chile pepper breeding program at NMSU.

Current research focus in the breeding program involves the use of different genomic, marker-assisted, and high-throughput phenotyping approaches to improve performance, increase genetic gain, and facilitate release of chile pepper varieties in New Mexico.