About Us
The Chile Pepper Institute is an international nonprofit organization devoted to education, research, and archiving information related to Capsicum.
The Institute collaborates with the New Mexico State University Chile Breeding and Genetics Program to preserve chile germplasm, of both cultivated and wild species, and to advance the studies of chile pepper diseases.
Furthermore, the Institute seeks to be an authoritative source of all types of information regarding Capsicum. Since its inception in 1992, it has been a recognized research institute in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University.
The Institute is housed on the main campus of New Mexico State University, in Gerald Thomas Hall room 265, and is officially known as the Chile Pepper Institute Center for Chile Education.
The Center offers a Chile Library with more than 600 books, a chile plant grow cart, displays on current NMSU chile research, chile art, the Institute's Hall of Flame, books, posters, seeds, and other chile related educational exhibits.
The Chile Pepper Institute:
- Supports continuing education through ever-expanding informational resources
- Disseminates the latest research on new Capsicum cultivars and disease prevention
- Publishes the "Chile Pepper Institute Newsletter"
- Provides an international information clearinghouse and an archive of Capsicum publications
- Preserves Capsicum wild species and cultivated land races
- Provides an annual Teaching and Demonstration Garden
- Produces the annual New Mexico Chile Conference