<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Las Cruces, NM</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.16.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The worst Rio Grande drought ever is presenting huge obstacles for chili growers in New Mexico.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Another challenge is groundwater that's applied to crops in the absence of river water is saltier. Such water tends to stunt plants and hurt the overall yield of crops, according to The Las Cruces Sun.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"It's affecting all crops. The cause and effect is throughout the valley," said Bobby Kuykendall, who grows habanero and ancho chile in Dona Ana County between La Union and Berino. "We're getting less disease problems with pump water vs. canal water, but the salinity still has an effect on chile."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/drought041613body.jpg" alt="images041613" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"So, we are really hoping for a good rainfall to leach some of that salt from the soil," said Stephanie Walker, New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">About 60 percent of New Mexico's chile crop had been planted this week, just slightly behind a five-year average for progress at this point, according to the USDA.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Statewide acreage has dropped sharply over the past two decades, after an all-time high of 34,500 acres in 1992.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Due to the severe conditions, farmers are expected to cutback or even eliminate their chile acreage, now that the region is entering its third drought year, said Jeff Anderson, a horticulture extension agent in Dona Ana County, which is among the top two producers of chile in New Mexico.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"I can't see it going up or even being the same with everybody knowing the drought is going to be worse this year," he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The drought means chile farmers pay more to grow the crop, as they pay irrigation district fees but don't get water and the fuel costs to pump groundwater.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Further complicating the situation is the presence of stiff pepper-growing competition from other countries, such as Mexico, where labor costs are much lower than in the United States.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Kuykendall said he's cut back significantly on the chile acreage he farms ever since 2005 because of labor costs involved with growing the crop. The drought, too, has played a role. Other farmers simply don't grow chile anymore, he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"With the water shortage, a lot of these guys have abandoned chile," he said. "A lot of it was that they were renting land from individuals, and they just didn't grow the crop this year.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.capitalpress.com/newest/AP-NM-chile-farming-041513 " target="_new">NM Chili Update </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
