Food grown with fewer chemicals? A Brazilian scientist wins $500,000 for
showing the way
[May 14, 2025]
By SCOTT McFETRIDGE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Brazilian scientist who pushed back against
chemical fertilizers and researched biologically based approaches to
more robust food production has been honored with this year’s World Food
Prize, the organization announced Tuesday.
Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria's research helped her country become
an agricultural powerhouse, an accomplishment that has now won her
$500,000 from the Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation. Hungria has
been researching biological seed and soil treatments for 40 years, and
has worked with Brazilian farmers to implement her findings.
“I still cannot believe it. Everybody said, my whole life, it's
improbable, you are going the wrong way, just go to things like
chemicals and so on. And then, I received the most important prize in
the world of agriculture," Hungria said in an interview. "Sometimes I
still think I'll wake up and see that it's not true.”
Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work
to dramatically increase crop yields and reduce the threat of starvation
in many countries, founded the World Food Prize. Since the first prize
was handed out in 1987, 55 people have been honored.
Hungria said she grew up wanting to alleviate hunger. Early in her
career, she decided to focus on a process called biological nitrogen
fixation, in which soil bacteria could be used to promote plant growth.
At that time, farmers in Brazil and around the world were reluctant to
reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizers, which dramatically increase
crop production but lead to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes
waterways.
Hungria studied how bacteria can interact with plant roots to naturally
produce nitrogen. She then demonstrated her work on test plots and began
working directly with farmers to convince them that they wouldn't have
to sacrifice high crop yields if they switched to a biological process.
The work is credited for increasing yields of several crops, including
wheat, corn and beans, but it has been especially affective on soybeans.
Brazil has since become the world's largest soybean producer, surpassing
the United States and Argentina.
[to top of second column]
|
This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr.
Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
 Although Hungria's research could be
applied on farms in other countries, soybean production in the U.S.
is different than it is in Brazil; American farmers typically rotate
crops on their land between growing corn and soybeans. Enough
nitrate fertilizer applied to corn still remains in the soil when
soybeans are planted that little or no fertilizer needs to be
applied, Hungria said.
Brazilian agricultural companies have faced fierce criticism for
clearing forested land to create farmland, largely to grow soybeans.
Much of that criticism is justified, Hungria said, but she added
that her biological approach builds up the soil and makes further
encroachment into forested areas less necessary.
“If you manage the crop well, the crop will enrich the soil with
nitrogen. Soil health improves if you do the right things,” she
said.
Hungria will be awarded her prize at an annual October gathering in
Des Moines, Iowa, of agricultural researchers and officials from
around the world.
Gebisa Ejeta, chair of the World Food Prize Laureate Selection
Committee, credited Hungria for her “extraordinary scientific
achievements” that have transformed agriculture in South America.
"Her brilliant scientific work and her committed vision for
advancing sustainable crop production to feed humanity with
judicious use of chemical fertilizer inputs and biological
amendments has gained her global recognition both at home and
abroad,” Ejeta said in a statement.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
