NM chile industry on downward trend Trouble is growing for New Mexico's chile industry. The prized crops are well-known around the world, but New Mexico chile is on a quiet yet quick slide in the global marketplace. At its peak just a few years ago, chile packed a half billion dollar impact into New Mexico's economy. Now, it's only about half as much. Five thousand full time workers have swindled away to three thousand as farmers have cut back chile acreage by two thirds. Chile industry leaders told a legislative hearing Tuesday afternoon that it's all because of new players in the game. 'The cost of labor is significantly higher than countries such as China and India or Central and South American countries. We can't compete with them and the chile industry, frankly, is still a labor intensive industry," said Dino Cervantes of the New Mexico Chile Association....