This story was first published in the Davis College NewsCenter. See the original article here.
The Global Sorghum Association announced this month that Texas Tech University, along with members of its Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, will host the 3rd Global Sorghum Conference. The international meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14-18 in 2026.
“We're extremely excited to host the 3rd Global Sorghum Conference in Lubbock in 2026,” said Davis College Dean Clint Krehbiel. “This conference will bring together scientists, industry partners, producers, and consumers around the opportunities sorghum provides to address global food security through collaborative efforts that span geography to increase resiliency and sustainability.”
Davis College has a strong, recent history of sorghum research. In 2022, Texas Tech took the lead in one of the largest projects ever funded by the United Sorghum Checkoff Program. Krishna Jagadish, the Thornton Distinguished Chair in the Department of Plant & Soil Science, received $1.6 million in funding in partnership with Texas A&M University, Kansas State University, the USDA's Agricultural Research Service locations in Lubbock and Manhattan, Kansas, and industry partners. Haydee Laza, an assistant professor of plant physiology, is a co-investigator on the project as well.
“The project brings together major public sorghum improvement programs in the U.S.,” Jagadish said. “The trans-disciplinary team aims to achieve the project goals by integrating agronomy, crop physiology, breeding, machine learning and crop and climate modeling.”
Over the course of the project researchers, led by Jagadish, hope to develop trait-based ideotype sorghum hybrids specifically targeted to thrive in water-deficient areas and in areas considered favorable for growing sorghum. The five-year incorporates a number of students seeking both master's and doctoral degrees, giving it the added benefit of helping train the next generation of leaders in the sorghum industry.