14 



The established cliilg p2?©ea§sirig plant at Las Crucas in Donna Anna County 

 has certsiis cucrsriS advaatagas over the proposed plant in the Espanola Valley. 

 The per aere yield ©f chile giSQ^n in Disnaa Aana County is approxtcaately 50 per- 

 cent higher Shan in ths Espaa^Ia ¥aliey,. Also the avsrags gisa chile pl&t in 

 DoQESj. Aaa& S-suaty is e©asi4®rafely lazfger as attested by the 1959 Census data 

 showing i)o3 acrss pas' fesia fi^spsred with 1,1 aeres par f^xsa i& the Espar^ala 

 Valley (£&ble 8). 



Tfe® chile gtmsmiss is th® Las Cruces arsa were receiving considerably less 

 per pound in raarksting thftir pr-s-duat than the Eap&aols. Valley growers. This 

 was due to the difference in ths !Esrketing practices o The growers in the area of 

 Las Cruees market their chile in volume through nearby wholesale channels. In 

 contrast the Espanola growers sold their mere limited quantities of chile at 

 retail from roadside stands and by door to door peddling. 



Sales ©f chile &t wholesale require- less tirrie and effort than b^/ the retail 

 method,, This, tiras csuld b^i used by cuitivatlng increased s^creage of chile or 

 other farniing opsratton£« However the Espanola growers must be willing to 

 accept a soraewhat lower price for their chile if they decide to increase their 

 production and market their product in volume through wholesale chanp-els. 



Although the Espanola growers raaintain their chile is of superior quality 

 than that grown elsewhere^ it laav be difficult to convince the wholesale buyers 

 of this claiH in terms of obtaining a higher price for the product. 



The chile crop has been produced in the Espanola Valley for ma~iy generations. 

 It is lisarketed both as green and red chile. The red chile in this area is either 

 tied into ristras (strings) or placed on the ground and then sun-dried. Sun= 

 drying the red chile on the ground results in about 30 percent los3 from molds 

 and rot and raake^ it isasC'Ssp table for xtarketing in interstate consr-erce because 

 of pure f&od and haslth reguilatlons , 



