New Mexico state university shall:

A. devote an appropriate portion of its funding for the purpose of initiating a program of genetic research and procedures for developing a seed source for faster growing pinon trees suitable to New Mexico's climate;

B. study methods to prevent and control diseases that threaten the pinon trees in this state;

C. conduct and publish a nutritional analysis of pinon nuts;

D. research and recommend storage methods for both shelled and unshelled nuts for periods of up to three years;

E. recommend packaging methods for shelled nuts to preserve freshness;

F. conduct a marketing study to define the potential of exploiting the state's present wild-growing pinon nut crop resource both for in-state consumption and for out-of-state export;

G. conduct research in the development of mechanical means for harvesting pinon nuts from wild trees that will not cause damage to the trees or their surroundings and mechanical means for shelling the pinon nuts; and

H. report annually to the legislature regarding the amount of funding it is devoting and expending for the research, development and marketing programs called for in this section, the funding being devoted to and expended for other agricultural, range, forestry and land stewardship programs and the progress being made towards fulfilling the research, development and marketing programs called for in this section.

History: Laws 1987, ch. 43, § 4; 1993, ch. 299, § 3.

The 1993 amendment, effective April 7, 1993, rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison is impracticable.