Yusa Ichinose is joining as a new master’s student from fall 2023. She is going to study the preharvest sprouting of sorghum to improve its yield and quality. The preharvest sprouting causes starch hydrolysis, embryo elongation, susceptibility to fungal attacks, loss of desiccation tolerance, and renders grains unfit for profitable use. Her research focus is on studying seed dormancy to tackle these problems. She will also work on assessing the agronomic and environmental sustainability of sorghum-cotton rotation versus continuous cotton cropping.