![The sorghum "stay-green" variety BTx642, grown in Central Valley at temperatures around 100 degrees for 65 days without water. (Jeffrey Dahlberg, UC ANR Agricultural Research and Extension Center)](https://biosciences.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/570-sorghum-KARE-vertical_JDahlberg-300x225.jpg)
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is an African grass that adroitly handles droughts, floods and poor soils. While sorghum is drought-tolerant, the crop’s precise response is dependent on when exactly water becomes a limiting factor – before or after flowering. Reported in PNAS the week of December 2, 2019, is the first paper that describes sorghum’s response to drought, from a large-scale field experiment led by a multi-institutional consortium to uncover the mechanisms behind sorghum’s capacity to produce high yields despite drought conditions. Read the full highlight on the JGI website.