b'A Market on Fire 20 tons per hectare in 1993 to 80 tons in 2020. He notes hot pepper production is becoming a year-round crop in key areas as well.Through genetic improvement for agronomic traits and adaptability to diverse environments, producers are able to grow hot peppers all year round in Mexico now, he says. For example, ancho peppers used to grow in Guanajuato and Zacatecas states during summer only, but today anchos are produced in Michoacan, San Luis Potosi and Jalisco states in the fall and in Sinaloa during winter. Production areas and seasons overlap, allowing for year-round supply. Hurtado concurs. Thankfully, there are many regions in the world that pro-duce or have climates that allow for hot pepper production today, he says. We strategically place those productions to meet our needs and allow us to provide our growers with the best quality seed.Ground chili peppers from Bayers hot pepper breeding program. Our job is to ensure growers that our vari-eties are versatile and can work for most of their needs. There are different preferences on the market; some people prefer high Perfecting Pepper Pungency pungency and others low pungency. On serrano peppers, for instance, In addition to increasing production, plantthe preference is high pungency but on ancho peppers the preference has breeders focus on fruit size and quality, disease resistance and pungency withshifted to low and mid pungency. pungency being a priority trait for hot Tyler Eckardpepper breeders.Different pepper types have varying degrees of pungency, which is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). In recentpeppers, including jalapenos for bothare tested in pre-commercial trials across years, some breeders have been pushingfresh and processing markets, ancho, ser- the most important environments. Only SHUs higher and higher. rano and Asian peppers, Bayer Vegetablethose that meet agronomic performance There are different preferences on theSeeds breeding process starts by defin- and fruit quality attributes across years market; some people prefer high pun- ing product concept, breeding road- and locations advance to the next testing gency and others low pungency. On ser- maps and parental lines to develop newphase and potential commercial launch.rano peppers, for instance, the preferencegermplasm. At Sakata, breeding happens in is high pungency but on ancho peppersOur breeding programs leverageparallel with development of molecular the preference has shifted to low and midsuperior germplasms, cutting-edgemarkers and help from pathologists and pungency as new hybrids were derivedtechnology applied to genotyping andscientists. Disease resistance, among from crosses with sweet peppers to gettrait integration, and an extensive test- other agronomic attributes, is critical.larger size fruits, says Eckard. ing and trialing network, he says. EveryAs diseases and pests create more Whether for different types of hotyear, hundreds of new candidate hybridschallenges for growers, improving hot FEBRUARY 2021SEEDWORLD.COM /51'