Mariangela Hungria da Cunha

Mariangela Hungria da Cunha (born 6 February 1958) is a Brazilian agronomist and microbiologist noted for pioneering work on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and the use of beneficial soil bacteria as microbial inoculants for tropical crops. Since 1982 she has been a researcher with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), helping farmers reduce the need for chemical fertilizers by incorporating beneficial soil bacteria. In 2025 she became the first Brazilian woman to receive the World Food Prize, for “extraordinary scientific advancements in biological nitrogen fixation” that transformed tropical agriculture. She is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education Dr. Hungria was born in Itapetininga, São Paulo. By the 2020s, her technologies were used on more than 40 million hectares of Brazilian farmland, reducing fertiliser costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Hungria has published over 500 scientific papers and produced a Portuguese-language laboratory manual for tropical soil-microbiology methods. National Order of Scientific Merit – Commander (2008) and Grand Cross (2018).