If you've ever sat down to a relleno plate at your favorite restaurant and marveled at how much room for gooey melted cheese there is inside those big, flavorful chile pepper pods, you might owe a little thank you to Roy Nakayama, the man who helped turn the 'NuMex Big Jim' chile cultivar into the world's largest pepper pod and left an indelible mark on chile consumption in the United States.

Building on the work of horticulture researchers like Fabián García, Nakayama's collaborative research projects at New Mexico State University spanned more than three decades and produce some of the most popular green chile varieties on the market. By some estimates, the cultivars developed by Nakayama and his collaborators bring in more than $10 million per year for producers in New Mexico.

"His impact in the world was very significant," said Frank Matta, a retired horticulturist and researcher who worked under Nakayama as a graduate research assistant at NMSU. "The chile cultivars that he developed go all over the world. He had a very big impact."

Nakayama was born in 1923 near Las Cruces to parents who had emigrated from Japan. He was one of eight children in a farming family and showed and judged livestock as a student at Las Cruces Union High School. Nakayama and six of his siblings attended New Mexico A&M – now known as NMSU.

Two years into his degree at NMSU, Nakayama enlisted in the army to serve in World War II. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and spent seven months as a prisoner of war in Germany. His time in captivity took a heavy toll – he weighed just 87 pounds when he was liberated, and the long-term effects on his body made it difficult to do heavy farm labor or tolerate cold temperatures.

Sentiments toward Japanese Americans during and after the war took their toll, as well. Upon his return to Las Cruces, Nakayama was initially refused re-admission to New Mexico A&M. His former professors lobbied on his behalf, and in 1948, he completed a bachelor's degree in botany. He went on to earn master's and doctoral degrees in plant pathology from Iowa State University before returning to New Mexico A&M to teach and conduct research in agriculture and horticulture.

Matta described Nakayama as a patient man who liked to take his time and get it right.

"While we worked in the field, he would teach," Matta said. "He would talk about the structures of the flowers, the pollination, everything. He was very thorough, very patient, and a good instructor, both in the classroom and in the field."

Matta said Nakayama was drawn to research that was responsive to the wants and needs of consumers and producers. He sought to develop cultivars that produced hotter chiles, more flavorful jalapeños, more productive plants.

One such research project that Matta and Nakayama collaborated on in northern New Mexico produced the 'NuMex Española Improved,' a pepper variety that matures faster to accommodate the shorter growing season and higher elevation. That hybrid chile pepper, released in 1984, was later selected from more than 40 pepper varieties to be grown aboard the International Space Station in 2021 as part of NASA's Plant Habitat-04 experiment. Nakayama and Matta's 'NuMex Española Improved' could one day be among the plants that accompany astronauts on their years-long journey to Mars and back.

While his impact on chile may ultimately prove to be interplanetary, that crop wasn't his only research interest. Nakayama also collaborated with other plant scientists to develop successful pecan cultivars and refine cultivation techniques for New Mexico's climate and soils.

For Matta, Nakayama's impact was more personal. "Working under him was a very good experience. I learned a lot from him, including how to be a good boss."

Although he retired in 1984 and died in 1988 in Las Cruces, Nakayama and his family continue to make an impact on students at NMSU through scholarship and research support. The Roy Nakayama Memorial Scholarship benefits students interested in agronomy. And Nakayama's brother Joe also established two research professorships in the College of ACES and College of Engineering, in honor of their parents, "John" Kaichiro and Tome Nakayama.

A version of this story was originally published in the fall 2024 issue of ACES Magazine. For more stories, visit https://nmsu.news/aces-magazine-fall-2024.

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-s-roy-nakayama-transformed-new-mexico-s-chile-industry-with-bigger--hotter-peppers/s/622b9b61-ba5f-48fb-ab56-02a90eba8736