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Dr. Mariangela Hungria will receive the $500,000 award
for her work to utilize biological processes to sustainably
improve crop1 nutrition, yields2 and productivity. The scientist
whose discoveries helped Brazil become a global agricultural
powerhouse has been named the 2025 World Food Prize
Laureate.
Dr. Mariangela Hungria, a microbiologist from São
Paulo, has developed dozens of biological seed and soil
treatments that help crops source nutrients through soil
bacteria, significantly increasing yields of major crops while
also reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer. Her products
are estimated to have been used across more than 40 million
hectares in Brazil, saving farmers up to US$40 billion a year in
costs while avoiding more than 180 million metric tons of CO2
equivalent emissions per year.
Dr. Hungria’s work has helped improve yields of wheat,
corn, rice, common beans, and other major crops, including
soybean, which is now Brazil’s top agricultural export. Over
her 40-year career with the Brazilian Agricultural Research
Corporation (Embrapa), national soybean production
increased from 15 million tons in 1979 to an anticipated
173 million tons in the next harvest3 in 2025.
Dr. Hungria, who overcame prejudices against women
and young mothers in academia to be named one of the
100 most powerful women in agriculture in Brazil by Forbes
magazine in 2021, said she was inspired by Dr. Norman
Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution and founder of
the World Food Prize. “I like to say that he made the Green
Revolution possible, and we had this great opportunity to
start a ‘micro green revolution’ — a green revolution, but with
microorganisms,” she added. “I can’t quite believe I am now
receiving the World Food Prize. Many people questioned
me and my abilities throughout my career but I believed in
what I was doing and persevered. The role of women
in agriculture, from farming to science, deserves more
recognition. I hope my achievement inspires others to pursue
their passions in science.”
(www.worldfoodprize.org, 13.05.2025. Adaptado.)
1crop: cultivated plant that is grown as food, especially grain, fruit or
vegetable.
2yields: the full amounts of an agricultural product.
3harvest: the crops that are cut and collected.
In the excerpt from the fourth paragraph “this great opportunity
to start a ‘micro green revolution’ — a green revolution, but
with microorganisms”, the underlined phrase
