LUBBOCK, TEXAS (Commodity Online): Monsanto Texas Cotton Research Center being developed at the 1.2 acre site at the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance Business Park that will provide a central point for the company's breeding and testing programs int he High Plains regions.

The research center is being promoted by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) to improve yield ptoential for cotton and produce better quality fiber."Texas is the major player in the U.S. cotton industry with more than 50 percent of the country's planted acres," said Dr. Trevor Hohls, Monsanto global cotton breeding lead. "We have made some great progress with well-adapted germplasm in the past couple of years and are seeing great results with Deltapine's Class of 09 varieties and Class of 10 candidates. This increase in research will provide continued breakthroughs in genetics and technology for the farm."

"This megasite will let our programs in Hale Center and Haskell work alongside discovery breeding, biotech and testing programs," Hohls explained. "A new testing center in South Texas will connect to these as well to provide additional environments to use in the breeding and testing of our products. We will be utilizing the latest technologies to select the traits of greatest interest, measure progress in our water-use efficiency program and conduct testing across diverse genetics and environments."

Start trading in commodities from as low as $50. Join now

Kendall Bonds, Monsanto's western region testing lead, estimates that 20 employees will be based at the facility. He explains that due to the nature of the work, a large percentage of the team has advanced degrees in genetics or other technical fields. Specialized equipment and computer technologies are also a factor for the facility.

"Cotton farming requires a lot of specialized equipment. Our breeding and testing programs have similar needs, but on a different scale, as we look at individual plants or small numbers of plants rather than fields," Bonds explains. "Our site will bring these technologies together to help us do that field work and analyze data. The combination of the field and lab components enables us to determine what is working well and the opportunities we have will produce real returns on our investment for farmers and the company."