| 1 | LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Efforts are underway to save the green chile that's important to traditional New Mexican fare as labor shortages, a previous severe drought and competition from China, India and Mexico endanger its growth in the state. |
| 2 | The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://goo.gl/jyfsGJ ) that investors and inventors are running tests this week of machines that would harvest and de-stem the crop. |
| 3 | The delicate chiles are now picked by hand, and problems with bruising and removing their stems have made the change to machines difficult. |
| 4 | New Mexico land dedicated to growing chile has long been declining, and experts say mechanization might stop or even reverse the trend. |
| 5 | Federal numbers show overall chile acreage harvested across New Mexico fell last year to a 43-year low. |
| 6 | The trial runs involve harvesting machines from U.S. and Israeli company's and an American inventor's device to pull the stems. |