AgriLife Research names new cotton breeder in Lubbock

Carol Kelly, Ph.D., has been training for her new role as a Texas A&M AgriLife Research cotton breeder for more than 20 years. She also grew up on an area family cotton farm, giving her a personal perspective on issues facing cotton farmers.

Kelly started working at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock in 2003 as a graduate student, and she completed her postdoctoral work there in 2010. She has been an assistant research scientist, associate research scientist and research scientist since 2012.

As an assistant professor of cotton breeding, she will continue many of the projects she has managed over the years when working alongside previous cotton breeders Jane Dever, Ph.D., and John Gannaway, Ph.D.

“It’s exciting but a little intimidating because it is a very big role,” Kelly said. “It’s special to me, though, because I’ve been in the program and working on some of the projects for several years. I’m excited to get the opportunity to continue advancing the program.”

Improving cotton traits: from fiber quality to limited water conditions

Kelly’s ambition as a breeder is to develop germplasm and cultivars that address regional production challenges while identifying novel traits and innovative breeding strategies that will be universally impactful and applicable.

“My research interests are driven by a desire to ensure the future of cotton production by improving the crop’s value and profitability potential and providing germplasm resources with improved production potential and research value,” she said.

Kelly said she envisions an impactful and innovative breeding program, confronting complex objectives such as drought tolerance, disease resistance and improvement of specific fiber traits.

Fiber quality, disease resistance and germplasm that can perform under limited-water conditions will all be needed to keep the largest contiguous cotton-growing area in the world in production, she said.

The next generation of cotton production

It will be crucial to develop cotton that can provide sustainable income for farmers facing historically low water availability and historically high input costs, Kelly said.

“We have to continue to make sure there is cotton available to this growing region that addresses the different biotic and abiotic stresses,” she said. “While doing that, we have to consider growers’ production habits and challenges because what our producers have been able to do has changed in the past few years.”

Moving forward, she believes the biggest challenge will be their work on germplasm adapted to production with less water, especially after the past drought years that have tremendously limited cotton production.

“Our producers are facing higher production costs that require lower inputs – doing more with less. They face many challenges, and I hope to do our part with breeding and research advances to help the industry.”

About Kelly

Kelly earned her bachelor’s degree in agronomy, master’s in crop science and doctorate in agronomy, all from Texas Tech University. She also has served as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Tech since 2015.

She is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and the National Association of Plant Breeders. She has served as the co-chair of the Beltwide Cotton Conference – Cotton Improvement, 2023, and chair of the Beltwide Cotton Conference – Cotton Improvement, 2024. Additionally, she is an associate editor for cotton in the Journal of Plant Registrations, and Plains chair on the National Cotton Variety Testing Committee.

Kelly has participated in seven germplasm releases. The cotton breeding program typically releases germplasm, which can be described as a genetic resource or material that can be used to develop varieties. This material is released from their public breeding program to be further developed into a variety for general use by producers.

“I would love to someday be able to say we have released a variety,” Kelly said.