World Food Prize awarded to Brazilian microbiologist for soil bacteria work
Dr. Hungria was recognised for the results of her 40-year career, which has been dedicated to isolating bacterial strains favourable to crop growth and yield.
In addition to substantially reducing the need for chemical inputs, her work has now been augmented by being awarded the food industry's own Nobel Prize -the World Food Prize – and the sum of $500,000 that goes with it.
The World Food Prize Foundation announced its decision to award the prize to Dr. Hungria earlier this month. She will be presented with the gong at a ceremony in Iowa later this year.
Life's dedication
Dr. Hungria was an early proponent of biological nitrogen fixation, specifically in soybean.
Over her 40-year career with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), national soybean production increased from 15 million tonnes to an anticipated 173 million tonnes in 2025.
The microbiologist's studies began with Rhizobia bacteria, the group of microbes that infects legume roots to provide nitrogen in the form of ammonia in exchange for nutrients from the plant.
These bacteria can live independently in soil, but do not produce ammonia under natural conditions. In addition, their soil populations are relatively low.
The trick is to ensure that, as a seed germinates, it doews so in an environment rich with rhizobia, which is where treating the seeds with an inoculant comes into play.
Dr. Hungria found that applying this strain to soybean through an inoculant increases yields by up to 8% when compared to the use of synthetic fertilizer.
Taking a step beyond
Yet Dr. Hungria went further, for she was also the first to isolate a strain of the bacterium genus Azospirillum brasilense, a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that can boost the uptake of nitrogen and phytohormones, even at low oxygen levels.
Dr Hungria is the recipient of many awards and honours in Brazil and elsewhere
Her research demonstrated that combining and applying both A. brasilense and strains of rhizobia could double the yield increase in common beans and soybeans .
Today, it is estimated that more than 15 million hectares of soybean are treated with a combined dose of these two microbe groups annually in Brazil, helping to make it the world's largest exporter of the crop.
Critics will point out that this growth is as much to do with deforestation. While Dr. Hungria is sympathetic to this view, she notes that by increasing the yield ofcrops, existing land pressure on forests could be much reduced.
What may be of further interest to Irish farmers is that A.brasilense is usually found in association with grass worldwide.
Dr. Hungria has turned her attention to the inoculation of pasture, which has shown an increase of biomass of up to 22%.
Soybean has become a major part of Brazil's agricultural output. Image: Proterra
Although the Azospirillum genus was first identified in the Netherlands in 1923, this particular species was not described until 1978 by Dr. Hungria's mentor, Johanna Dobereiner.
Quite how the relationship between A. brasilense and crop roots operates is still the subject of debate amongst researchers, but its potential for reducing fertiliser use while maintaining yields in grass has been shown to be significant.
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