Monday, September 8 | Day 1
08:15 - 9:00 | Registration
09:00 - 09:40 | Namaste, India: Welcome to DialogueNEXT
- Mashal Husain | President, World Food Prize Foundation
- Mangi Lal Jat | Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Bram Govaerts | Director General, CIMMYT and 2014 Borlaug Field Award Recipient
- Rajendra Singh Paroda | Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1992-2001)
09:40 - 09:50 | Keynote Address | NEXT Stop: From Iowa to India
- Hon. Kim Reynolds | Governor, State of Iowa
10:00 - 10:10 | Keynote Address | AgNEXT: Bridging Fields from Des Moines to Delhi
- Hon. Mike Naig | Secretary of Agriculture, State of Iowa
10:10 - 10:20 | Keynote Address
- Anil Jain | Vice Chairman and CEO, Jain Irrigation Systems
10:20 - 10:45 | Fireside Chat | The NEXT Innovative Policies
- Ramesh Chand | Member, National Institution for Transforming India
- Alison Laing | Agroecologist Specialist, CIMMYT
10:45 - 11:15 | NEXTwork Break with Chai
11:15 - 12:00 | Agriculture without Borders: The NEXT South-South Collaboration
- Facilitator: Mangi Lal Jat | Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Víctor Manuel Villalobos Arámbula | Member, World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors
12:00 - 12:20 | Keynote Address | India's NEXT Agricultural Breakthrough
- Ajay Kumar Sood | Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India & Board Member, CIMMYT
12:20 - 12:30 | Keynote Address | NEXT Gains for Every Farmer
- Vikas Chaudhary | Indian Farmer in Haryana
12:30 - 12:45 | World Food Prize Foundation Inspire the NEXT Generation Award Presentation
- Mashal Husain | President, World Food Prize Foundation
13:00 - 14:00 | The NEXT Course: Lunch and Networking
14:00 - 14:45 | Sowing the NEXT Season of Peace Through Agriculture
- Facilitator: Máximo Torero Cullen | Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Sharon Burke | Chief Engagement Officer, CIMMYT
14:45 - 15:00 | Farmer-Centric NEXT Innovations
- Trilochan Mohapatra | Chairperson, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority
15:00 - 15:30 | NEXTwork Break with Chai
15:30 - 16:30 | Rapid-Fire Keynotes | Taking Innovation and Technologies to the NEXT Level
- Facilitator: Veda Krishnan | Senior Scientist, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute
- Pana Devi | Farmer, Khari Village in Rajasthan
- Brent Johnson | President, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
- Bharat Char | Chief Science Officer, Mahyco
- Joe Roberts | President, Iowa Corn Promotion Board
- Nidhi Bhasin | CEO, Digital Green
- Satendra Mangrauthia | Senior Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research
- Jessica Hyland | Executive Director, Iowa Biotechnology Association
16:30 - 17:00 | Science at Work: NEXT Steps for Smallholder Harvests
- Facilitator: Archna Vyas | Director, Program Advocacy and Communications: Growth, Opportunity and Empowerment, Gates Foundation
- Krishan Prasad Timsina | Executive Director, Nepal Agricultural Research Council
- Pratap Singh Birthal | Director, ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research
- Hasan Md. Hamidur Rahman | Director, Computer & GIS Unit, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council
- Arti Bhatia | Principal Scientist, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Pramod Aggarwal | Regional Program Leader, Borlaug Institute for South Asia
17:00 – 17:15 | Announcement of Action
17:15 - 17:30 | Reset for What’s NEXT
17:30 - 18:30 | Rhythms of the NEXT Harvest: Cultural Performance by ICAR-IARI Post-Graduate Students
18:30 - 20:00 | The NEXT Course: Dinner and Networking
Tuesday, September 9 | Day 2
08:30 - 09:00 | Registration
09:00 - 09:15 | Fireside Chat | The NEXT Solutions for Smallholder Success (in Hindi)
- Facilitator: Madhulika Singh | Agriculture Specialist and Physiologist, CIMMYT
- Poonam Devi | Indian Farmer in Bihar
- Seema Devi | Indian Farmer in Bihar
09:15 - 10:00 | Krishi Jyoti: Enlightening and Empowering the NEXT Farmers
- Facilitator: Jay Sehgal | Executive Vice President, Sehgal Foundation
- Khurshid Ahmed | Indian Farmer in Haryana
- Rekha Devi | Indian Farmer in Rajasthan
- Robin Edwin | Country Head and Managing Director, Mosaic India
10:00 - 10:15 | Keynote Address | NEXT-Generation Agriculture
- Himanshu Pathak | Director General, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
10:15 - 10:30 | Announcement of Action: NEXT - Accelerating Action
10:30 - 11:15 | Agriculture’s Quiet Architects: Tending the NEXT Landscapes
- Facilitator: Purvi Mehta | Member, World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors
- Chetna Bai Sahu | Indian Farmer in Madhya Pradesh
- Boddupalli Maruthi Prasanna | 2025 Top Agri-Food Pioneer, Managing Director, Borlaug Institute for South Asia and Regional Director for Asia, CIMMYT
- Sandeep Kondaji | Founder and CEO, Krishitantra
- Cherukumalli Srinivasa Rao | Director and Vice-Chancellor, ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute
- Yashpal Saharawat | Director, Resilience and Environment, International Fertilizer Development Center
11:15 - 11:45 | NEXTwork Break with Chai
11:45 - 12:30 | Reimagining the NEXT Stage of Nutrition and Food Systems
- Facilitator: Simon Heck | Director General, International Potato Center
- E.D. Israel Oliver King | Director, Biodiversity, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
12:30 - 13:00 | Crafting the NEXT Plate
- Anahita Dhondy Bhandari | Chef
13:00 - 14:00 | The NEXT Course: Lunch & Networking
14:00 - 14:25 | Fireside Chat | NEXT Pathways to Improved Value Chains and Markets for Farmers
- Facilitator: Chris Stevens | Director, Global Agribusiness, Kellanova
- Nilima Jorwar | Writer, Photographer and Founder and Executive Director, Kalsubai Millets Farmers Producer Company
14:25 - 14:35 | Announcement of Action
14:35 - 15:20 | Rapid-Fire Keynotes | From Ideas to Markets: Cultivating the NEXT Opportunity
- Facilitator: Venkata Subbarao Kolli | Member, S M Sehgal Foundation Board of Trustees and Partner, AgVayā
- Ezhil Subbian | CEO and Co-Founder, String Bio
- Ramchandra Kaundinya | Partner, AgVayā and Adviser, Federation of Seed Industry of India
- Praveen Malik | Principal Scientist, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and CEO, Agrinnovate India
- Daniela Vega | Chief of Staff, CIMMYT
15:20 - 15:50 | NEXTwork Break with Chai
15:50 - 16:00 | Legends of the Land
- Recognition of Surinder Vasal | 2000 World Food Prize Laureate
16:00 - 16:45 | Borlaug’s Torch: Lighting the NEXT Pathway
- Facilitator: Rajendra Singh Paroda | Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (1992-2001)
- Saranjeet Singh | Farmer in Uttar Pradesh
- Navtej Bains | Director of Research, Punjab Agricultural University (2017-2021)
- Julie Borlaug | Member, World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors and President, Borlaug Foundation and Borlaug Consulting
- Madhura Swaminathan | Member, World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors and Professor and Head of the Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore
- Usha Barwale Zehr | Chairperson and Executive Director, Grow Indigo
16:45 - 17:10 | What Comes NEXT