CAST and India's National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) Sign Five-Year MoU to Boost U.S.–India Agricultural Science Collaboration

Key facts

• The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), based in Ames, Iowa, and India's National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), based in New Delhi, signed a five-year memorandum of understanding on Oct. 20, 2026, during the 2026 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines.
• Proposed initial activities include a jointly hosted webinar, a jointly produced science communication or policy product, a leadership exchange on strengthening scientific organizations, a possible CAST–NAAS Distinguished Agricultural Science Lecture series, and mentoring and scientific exchanges for students and early-career scientists.
• CAST President P.V. Vara Prasad is a university distinguished professor at Kansas State University, while NAAS President M.L. Jat is secretary of India's Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• Shared areas of interest include food and nutrition security, water availability and quality, adapting agriculture to environmental stresses, artificial intelligence and digital farming tools, biotechnology and gene editing, renewable energy, and protecting natural resources.
• CAST is an independent nonprofit founded in 1972 and based in Ames, Iowa, while NAAS was established in 1990 and is based in New Delhi.