NM chile yield down due to disease

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Mother Nature really had it out for some of New Mexico's chile farmers this season.

A combination of too much rain, wind, hail, insects and hungry animals made it tough for farmers - especially in Luna County and he Las Uvas Valley in southern New Mexico - to produce their fiery
crop.

Now that the 2008 harvest has wrapped up, early results indicate the chile yield is down 20 to 30 percent, said Stephanie Walker, extension vegetable specialist and chile breeding program researcher at New Mexico State University.

For the third straight year, excess moisture led to the spread of bacterial leaf spot, a destructive disease that causes the plant to lose leaves and not produce peppers.