Hundreds expected at global pepper conference
Texas
Dr. Ben Villalon is amazed at the long list of scientists and chile aficionados from 35 countries expected to attend the 17th Biennial International Pepper Conference in Florida later this year, he said.
Now retired, Villalon spent his career as a pepper breeder and virologist at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco. In 1972, he and a colleague wondered if like-minded researchers would be interested in getting together to exchange information and plant material.
"We didn't know what kind of interest might be out there so I sent a questionnaire to just 65 people," said Villalon from his South Padre Island home. "We were overwhelmed. We ended up with 120 attending that first National Pepper Conference in McAllen and Weslaco in 1973."
Held throughout the United States and Mexico every two years since, the popularity of the conference grew, as did the global demand for peppers.
"Chile is considered the No. 1 spice in the world," said Villalon, who released the world's first commercial mild jalapeño pepper in 1981. "The interest and demand for peppers have increased dramatically worldwide and peppers are no longer considered a minor crop in the global market. And this conference has become the premier venue for the dissemination and exchange of the latest scientific information on all capsicum."
In 1998 Villalon changed the name of the event to the International Pepper Conference to better reflect the expanding interest it was attracting. Many research scientists have attended religiously over he years, representing various disciplines of pepper research, including breeding, genetics, virology, molecular biology, physiology, entomology, pathology and horticulture.
"But it's not all work and no play," said Villalon. "We throw in fiestas, dances, tours, floor shows, lots of activities to spice things up, pun intended."
The non-scientific aspects of the conferences have added to their popularity. Loyal attendees invariably include seed and agro-chemical company representatives, processors, growers, chefs, authors, magazine publishers and chile lovers from around the world.
This year's International Pepper Conference will be Nov. 14 to 16 at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club in Naples, Fla., near the Florida Everglades.
More than 600 people attended the 2002 International Pepper Conference in Tampico, Mexico, and Villalon expects at least that many this year.
"The local Florida organizing committees have been working very hard since they accepted this responsibility at our last meeting in Mexico," he said. "They've lined up an excellent program, both scientifically and socially."
Villalon said as many as 60 scientific abstracts, both oral and posters, are scheduled, including two presentations by Dr. Kevin Crosby, Villalon's successor at the Weslaco research center. His presentations will be on enhancing healthful compounds in peppers and heat stress tolerances of Habanero peppers.
Pepper field trial observations are also scheduled at the conference. Social activities will include cookouts, a beach party dinner with entertainment, and airboat tours of the Everglades.
For more information, visit the conference website at http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu, or contact Gene McAvoy, conference organizer, at 863-674-4092, or Beth Miller-Tipton, conference coordinator, at 352-392-5930.
Date: 8/26/04
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