Brazilian Scientist Wins World Food Prize for Helping Crops Get Nitrogen From the Air
Brazilian microbiologist Mariangela Hungria won the 2025 World Food Prize after more than 40 years of research helping farmers grow crops with less synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. At Brazil’s agricultural research agency, Embrapa, she helped develop bacterial treatments for seeds and soil that support plant growth, including through biological nitrogen fixation—turning nitrogen from the air into forms plants can use. Her work has reached tens of millions of hectares, and the World Food Prize Foundation estimates these innovations save Brazilian farmers around $25 billion annually in input costs. The benefits depend on the crop and conditions: bacterial treatments can replace synthetic nitrogen in Brazilian soybean production, while an Embrapa corn technology allows a 25% reduction in nitrogen applied during growth. The viral “$2 replaces $50” comparison is not a universal price or guarantee. Her achievement shows how decades of research into microscopic organisms can deliver enormous agricultural benefits.
(Sources: World Food Prize Foundation, Embrapa, Reuters)
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