Global agricultural leaders, policymakers, scientists and farmers have convened in New Delhi for DialogueNEXT, a two-day conference focused on breakthrough innovations to secure the world’s food future.
Organized by the World Food Prize Foundation in partnership with CIMMYT, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), this year’s DialogueNEXT is themed “Take it to the Farmer.” The event emphasizes ensuring that cutting-edge agricultural solutions reach farmers, especially across the Global South.
Coinciding with World Agriculture Day, the gathering celebrates India’s agricultural legacy and honors Indian World Food Prize Laureates. It also highlights India’s leadership in advancing global food systems and fostering cross-sector collaboration for farmer-first solutions.
“Hosting this conference in India, 60 years after Dr. Norman Borlaug’s wheat innovations helped avert famine, is a powerful reminder of what agricultural science can achieve,” said Nicole Prenger, Senior Director, World Food Prize Foundation. “DialogueNEXT is designed to spark a similar ‘moonshot’ to sustainably feed the world’s growing population.”
The conference features addresses by Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, along with experts from across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Notable participants include Thinley Namgyel (Bhutan), Govinda Prasad Sharma (Nepal), Máximo Torero Cullen (FAO), and a U.S. delegation from Iowa led by Governor Kim Reynolds.
“India’s leadership and innovations in agriculture are important to unlock gains in productivity, sustainability and access across every facet of the agri-food value chain,” said Bram Govaerts, Director General, CIMMYT and Borlaug Institute for South Asia.
"The emerging global megatrends are posing complex challenges on agri-food systems which need smallholder farmer-centric, systemic solutions and their accelerated uptake,” said Dr. Mangi Lal Jat, Secretary of India’s Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of ICAR. “This essentially needs greater investments in cutting-edge science, innovations and partnerships across discovery to delivery. Since India's agricultural transformation is happening at a faster pace, the country can serve as a smallholder agriculture innovation hub for the Global South.”
Dr RS Paroda, Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), Former Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR), said, "With a population of 1.46 billion, India is food self sufficient with surplus and a growing production base. In 2024–25, wheat production reached 117 million tonnes with a productivity of 3.6 tonnes/ha — a remarkable milestone for national food security."
The conference comes amid stark warnings from more than 150 Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates that the world is “not even close” to meeting future food needs, urging urgent investments in research and innovation to avert a hunger tipping point.
Sessions will explore farmer-centered innovations, smallholder harvests, South-South collaboration, value chains, nutrition, and next-generation breakthroughs.
DialogueNEXT in India is part of a three-part global series retracing the legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, and will build momentum toward the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, this October.