[CH] Hatch Chile Crop Hit Hard
Dave Drum (dirty_dave@chillicooks.org)
Mon, 21 Aug 2006 06:40:48 -0500
Flood waters spare Hatch chile crop, yet fungus threat remains
By Diana M. Alba Las Cruces Sun-News
LAS CRUCES — As officials scrambled to help the village of Hatch
recover from flooding, a common thought undoubtedly brushed the minds
of many New Mexicans: How did Hatch's world-renowned chile crop fare?
The answer: It appeared to avoid widespread damage, said Doña Ana
County extension agent John White, who briefly surveyed the area
Wednesday.
"The chile fields by the highway — they're dried out," he said. "It
looked like the main (flooding) areas were toward the downtown of Hatch."
Even so, it's too soon for farmers and chile lovers to breath sighs of
relief.
Chile farmer Joe Paul Lack said continuing rains would mean there is
definitely going to be a shortage in chile production.
White said the biggest rain-caused problems will be disease resulting
from wet conditions and farmers not being able to harvest their crops
on time because of mud.
Doña Ana County's chile crop valued nearly $15 million in 2004, about
$5 million less than Luna County, according to the most recent
statistics available on the New Mexico Department of Agriculture Web
site. The state produced about $46 million the same year.
The Hatch area produces about 25 percent of the nation's chile crop,
said Stephanie Walker, vegetable specialist with New Mexico State
University's Cooperative Extension Service. Walker said chile wilt, a
chile-killing disease is a worry.
"It's a fungal pathogen that's spread through water," she said. "Under
flooding conditions it spreads quickly. It can really take out several
rows or even whole fields."
White said any wilt sparked by Tuesday's storm will take about 10 to
14 days to start killing plants. He said he saw signs of some disease
— the result of storms earlier in the month — in a few fields north of
Hatch. Conditions might worsen if rains continue, he said.
Farmer Dick Ogas, 67, grows about 100 acres of chile in Garfield,
about 12 miles north of Hatch. He said his fields avoided harm.
"We're lucky here," he said. "We haven't seen any losses yet."
Ogas said he doesn't know whether his fortune will last, though.
"I don't know after this week what's going to happen," he said.
"There's so many diseases that come with this moisture."
Dino Cervantes, a farmer who grows chile and cotton south of Las
Cruces, said his crops also weren't damaged.
"We haven't received a huge, huge amount of rain, so it didn't affect
us that much," he said.
White said another worry is that muddy fields will keep farmers from
harvesting their crops on schedule. If chile pods stay on the plant
too long, they'll redden, forcing farmers to miss the fresh chile market.
White estimated that 25 to 30 percent damage to the area's chile crop
could cause a significant price jump for consumers.
"Knocking a lot of our stuff out would have an impact on the market,
especially fresh green because that's what a lot of people want," he
said. "It will cause the price to stay up or go up even higher."
At least a few fields in the Hatch area showed standing water. White
said that's not especially good for any crop, though some tolerate it
better than most.
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