Grainswest - Fall 2026

Fall 2026 grainswest.com 33 When she was a student at Escola Superior de Agricultura in São Paulo back in the ’70s, farming was simple. “Everything was chemicals,” she said. However, Hungria arrived on the scene at just the right time as the Green Revolution took hold. “But I always knew there was a place for biologicals in the world.” The humble scientist holds the same audacious goal she did decades earlier. “My main aim is to replace chemical fertilizers and, in some cases, like legumes, I can replace it 100 per cent,” she said. A driving force in her work, she aims to make the pollution of waterways and greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fertilizers a thing of the past. She believes the math confirms the superiority of her method. In the biological nitrogen fixation process, certain micro- organisms, mainly bacteria, possess the enzyme nitrogenase that can capture atmospheric nitrogen, or N2, from the air. It can break the molecules so the bacteria can use the nitrogen for their metabolism or transfer it to nearby plants. To produce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer from the atmosphere, it is necessary to apply high temperature and pressure. Therefore, to produce one tonne of ammonia requires about six barrels of oil. “It’s very expensive and a polluting process,” said Hungria. “That’s why we work with biological nitrogen fixation as much as possible.” She has worked against a formidable opponent throughout her career: the chemical industry. “It’s very powerful,” she said. “It’s more powerful than many countries in Europe. They want to recommend nitrogen fertilizer because then they will be very rich. We from the research side, we are always fighting to prove to the farmers that it’s not necessary.” Today, the Brazilian government’s official recommended rate of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer in Brazil is zero per cent. Prior to Covid, about six in 10 Brazilian farmers had adopted the biological inoculant Bradyrhizobia , slowly but surely, for their soybeans. However, it was due to global events that this adoption sped up. Brazil commonly imported much of its fertilizer from the Black Sea region, which became virtually impossible when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. This was compounded by Covid-related supply chain issues. Farmers had little choice but to switch to biologicals. “It was very sad times for humanity, but wonderful times for biologicals,” said Hungria. “We had this opportunity to really prove that what we’re talking about was correct.” Today the rate of adoption is 85-plus per cent, according to Hungria. “You absolutely don’t need nitrogen fertilizer. You can still have high yields by adopting biologicals. Once you introduce the bacteria in the soil, it always contributes to the crop.” Embrapa research and state-level co-op trials have shown that every year fresh bacteria is applied to the soil, yield improves by an average of eight per cent. The average yield for Brazil’s soybean farmers is 55 bu/ac, but certain farmers have hit 118 bu/ac. For comparison, the five-year average in Canada from 2021-25 was 46 bu/ac with a high point of 50.2 in 2024. The savings on fertilizer countrywide in Brazil for 2025 was $38.7 billion, or $140 billion Brazilian reals. This represented a 260 million- tonne CO 2 reduction, the equivalent of taking 60 million cars off the road for one year. On average, the product is available to Brazilian farmers for about $1.10/ac. “It’s the cheapest biological product in the whole world because we have a long tradition of advanced fermentation,” said Hungria. She added that chemical fertilizer is almost $55/ac, which makes the price difference an easy choice for farmers and a major issue for fertilizer manufacturers. A second biological, Azospirillum brasilense , has been on the market in Brazil for 10 years and went from a zero to 57 per cent adoption rate. The product helps to grow longer plant roots, which helps with uptake of all biological nutrients and water. For Brazilian farmers who do not know how to use biologicals, or still might be in the minority of holdouts, they can always educate themselves on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. The 90-minute television show Globo Rural examines the latest in crop news and developments, including biologicals, and explains how to use these products and their advantages. The mass production of biologicals has been made possible with the use of advanced fermentation technology.