Former SBCS president Mariangela Hungary of Embrapa Soja became the first Brazilian woman to receive World Food Prize, the largest international awards dedicated to food and agriculture science. The announcement was made on May 13 in the United States, the headquarters of the Foundation responsible for the prize, created in 1986 by agronomist Norman B winner of the Nobel Peace and central figure of the so -called Green Revolution. Recognized as the “Nobel Prize for Agriculture,” World Food Prize honors personalities annually that contributed to increasing the quality, amount or availability of food in the world.
Mariangela Hungary was the first woman to chair SBCS and held the position between 2001 and 2003, and was already vice president between 1999/2001. She is also a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and winner of the main awards of agricultural research in Brazil, including the Antonio Carlos Moniz Award for Soil Science, received during the XXXVII Brazilian Congress of Soil Science, in Cuiabá, MT, in 2019.
With more than four decades of activity, Mariangela Hungary is considered one of the main responsible for making Brazil a world leader in the use of biological inputs in agriculture. His work made the use of beneficial bacteria that interact with the soil and plant roots, partially or fully replacing the use of chemical fertilizers. The technology, adopted at about 40 million hectares, generated an estimated annual economy of $ 25 billion and avoided the issuance of more than 230 million tons of Co₂.
The researcher also helped bring these solutions to crops such as beans, corn, wheat and pasture, expanding the use of inoculants beyond soy. “Producing more with fewer inputs, less land, less human effort and less environmental impact” has been the north of his career, he said in an official statement.
The Foundation responsible for the award stressed that its scientific contributions “have transformed the sustainability of agriculture in South America” and that its trajectory is an example of perseverance in defense of a cleaner and more efficient food production.
