Fabian Garcia

Fabian Garcia was a Mexican American horticulturist called the father of the New Mexican food industry for his work breeding chile peppers, pecans, and onions suited to New Mexico's growing conditions. Working from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now New Mexico State University, he spent decades developing improved chile varieties, and in 1921 he introduced New Mexico No. 9, a chile pepper strain that became the genetic ancestor of the chiles still grown across New Mexico today. His pecan and onion varieties likewise became staples of New Mexican agriculture, and his breeding work helped establish chile as a defining crop of the state.