NMSU's Chile Pepper Institute may be small, but that hasn't stopped the nonprofit organization from fanning the flames of the chile craze.

Based in a single room in Gerald Thomas Hall, this international resource and education center devoted to the study of capsicums (chile) reaches chile lovers around the globe.

The part-time staff of three handles thousands of requests for chile information each year.

They stay in touch with 200 members from 50 states and 14 foreign countries; give hundreds of presentations about chile to tour groups, teachers and students; and keep their World Wide Web site up-to-date with the hottest chile information.

This is the only institute of its kind, says Paul Bosland, institute director and NMSU chile breeder. No other agricultural industry has such a research-based resource.

We're not trying to sell salsa, he says. As part of the university, we're a safe haven for unbiased information about chile that the public can trust.

As such, the institute has become a starting place when the media searches for chile information. For example, Alan Alda needed help with an episode of the television show American Science Frontiers, and the Japanese World Photo Press magazine staff wanted assistance putting together a whole issue about New Mexico and chile.

Bosland handles the numerous requests for information with help from staff members Danise Coon, an administrative assistant, and Tanya Anderson, an undergraduate assistant.

The institute's board of directors is led by Emma Jean Cervantes, president and owner of Cervantes Enterprises and Cervantes Agribusiness. She has been with the institute since its inception in February 1991.

I've known chile all my life, so it is rewarding to be able to share my experiences, she says.

That sharing extends statewide and worldwide to members as far away as Argentina, China and Guam. One member, plant ecologist Terry Bolger of Australia, enjoys getting the institute's newsletter and complimentary seed packets.

When Bolger moved to Australia eight years ago to work for CSIRO, the federal government's research organization there, he had a difficult time finding his favorite chiles: jalapeños, anchos and New Mexico greens and reds.

He started importing seeds of many different varieties, growing the plants and sharing them with friends.

This earned me the nickname Chile Man, Bolger says. I am happy to report that the chile situation here has improved a lot over the past few years.

As a tribute to his father, Dr. Edward Greenleaf, a cancer specialist in Stockton, Calif., keeps up his institute membership. He was introduced to the world of chile by his father, Walter H. Greenleaf, who developed a capsicum variety called Greenleaf Tabasco in 1970.

Twenty-eight years later, Greenleaf Tabasco continues to be grown for its outstanding disease resistance, yields and flavor and is truly one of life's pleasures, Greenleaf says.

Although the institute's members and directors have varied backgrounds, they all share a common connection to chile.

I've always looked at the institute as an excellent source of information about peppers, says Gene Jefferies, a former board member and retired director of agricultural operations for the McIlhenny Co. of Louisiana, which makes the world-famous Tabasco Hot Sauce. It's also a good service for growers.

The institute hosted the 2000 New Mexico Chile Conference in Las Cruces. About 300 people from around the world attended the event to discuss, debate and visit about chile. The conference featured breakout sessions about drip irrigation, new chile varieties and mechanical harvesting.

To further stoke the chile fire, the institute's biannual newsletter is filled with information about chile's health benefits, increasing market demands for peppers and the latest chile improvement research. Profiles of institute members and recipes for dishes like Frieda's Habanero Chile Chili lighten the reading.

The institute's World Wide Web site at www.chilepepperinstitute.org is a clearinghouse of chile information, including access to research publications about how to grow and harvest chile. With a user-friendly, searchable database of 7,000 citations, the site is home to the world's most extensive chile bibliography.

The Web site is a one-stop shop that offers easy access to the latest and best research about chile, Bosland says.

Once fully developed, the Web site will be a central location for the best chile science, providing farmers with a single place to solve problems with the latest information.

The site also houses a chile disease diagnostic center. Developed by plant pathologist Natalie Goldberg with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service, the center helps growers narrow down their chile disease and pest problems.

The Web site is straightforward, comprehensive and gimmick-free, says institute member Peter Milner of Auckland, New Zealand.

Other innovative ways of getting the word out about chile include the Chile Pepper Institute's Teaching and Demonstration Chile Garden and a soon-to-be operational, touch-screen chile kiosk at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

During late summer and fall, visitors can see and learn about more than 100 chile varieties at the chile garden, located at the Fabian Garcia Research Center on University Avenue in Las Cruces.

The chile kiosk, under development by staff from NMSU's agricultural communications department, will feature animated chile characters that offer information about the history and development of the chile industry throughout the world. Visitors will learn that chile is not just for eating.

The chile industry has supplied much of the support for the institute's projects, Cervantes says. For example, Frieda's, a specialty food company in California, helped with the chile garden, and McIlhenny Co. contributed to the chile kiosk.

In recent years, institute organizers have come up with some innovative fund-raising ideas. Board member Wendy Hamilton has been serving as the institute's informal head of fund-raising, identifying potential partners and writing grant proposals.

To help support the chile exhibit at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, the institute has started a tile wall known as the Hall of Flame. In exchange for a $100 or $500 donation, contributors get a personalized, chile-decorated ceramic tile.

On a larger scale, Hamilton is hoping to attract individuals or companies to donate $25,000 each to have an NMSU ornamental chile variety named in their honor.

Such grand plans make Cervantes' eyes light up. It's really the dream of the board to have our own building some day, she says. It would be an educational center devoted to the many uses of chile."

New members receive a one-year subscription to the institute's newsletter, a Chile Pepper Institute decal, a seed packet and other chile items.

Tax-deductible membership categories include: individual, $25; professional, $100; small business, $300; industry, $1,000; and corporate, $5,000.

To join or to receive a free, trial copy of the newsletter call (505) 646-3028 or write: Chile Pepper Institute, New Mexico State University, Box 30003, MSC 3Q, Las Cruces, NM, 88003. Make checks payable to "NMSU Foundation/Chile Pepper Institute."