History - Objectives - importance & scope - Prior conferences

Economically, peppers are no longer considered a minor crop and have merited attention by several federal and state experiment stations, as well as other public and private research and development agencies. NPC has served as an extremely useful tool in rapid dissemination of capsicum research information. Subsequently, other pepper-promoting groups have organized, such as:

• California Pepper Improvement Foundation, 
• California Pepper Commission, 
• Texas Pepper Foundation, 
• New Mexico Chile Improvement Foundation, 
• New Mexico Chile Commission, 
• International Connoisseurs of Green and Red Chile at Las Cruces, 
• New Mexico and Florida Pepper Commission. 

The NPC membership consists of over 2,100 names and many maintain membership in one or more of the smaller groups.

Scope

Virus diseases and breeding for virus resistance continue to be the primary concern of the capsicum industry.  The organization continues successfully without officers, structure, dues, etc.  Interest in capsicum improvement and diversity continues as the demand for better peppers increases annually.