Cuba's government biodiversity researcher Humberto Rios Labrada was awarded on Monday with one of the six 2010 Goldman Environmental Prizes. (Franklin Reyes/Associated Press)

A folk-singing agricultural scientist became the first Cuban to win the Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the "green Nobel," on Monday.

Humberto Rios Labrada has been working with nearly 50,000 Cuban farmers to give them more autonomy. His campaign involves choosing the crops and seed varieties best for their lands and educating farmers on how to grow strong healthy crops with less dependence on farm chemicals.

"I want the seed to adapt to the people, not the people to adapt to the seed," said Rios. He has been lecturing across Cuba on how to mix seed combinations to improve yields and quality — techniques that have helped produce bigger beans, tastier squash, heartier rice and better varieties of other crops across the country.

"The idea is to give farmers more of an active role," said Rios. "More participation in the process so we can increase production, but more importantly increase the happiness of the people of the fields."

The government bristled at his ideas initially. Officials have long been telling producers what to grow, even if it wasn't right for the soil.

Like seed banks in other countries, Cuba's government has stockpiled tens of thousands of different kinds of seeds, including more than 500 varieties of rice alone.

But getting farmers to plant the right seeds was only half the battle. Rios also had to convince them to change the way they worked. So he not only sings in the fields, but also produced a CD full of catchy guitar and patriotic lyrics promoting the virtues of organic farming.

While some songs have decidedly adult themes, many are playful, sprinkling lyrics about rice and beans into romantic odes.

Humberto Rios inspects a cornfield in Bauta, Cuba, on April 11. (Franklin Reyes/Associated Press)

"With music, everybody gets more relaxed and the real work begins," Rios said.

Goldman recipients are chosen annually from six regions worldwide. Winners receive $150,000 at a ceremony in San Francisco on Monday night, and Rios obtained sometimes tough-to-come-by permission to attend the event from both the Cuban and U.S. governments.

The prize has been awarded to 139 people from 79 countries since philanthropist Richard Goldman and his late wife Rhoda created it in 1990.

Prize director Lorie Rominger said Rios's selection emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture, and he was especially deserving given the governmental constraints of Cuba.

"It was clear that he was a leader within his community," she said. "He started out very small and now his work has grown incredibly."

Rios was a government biodiversity researcher when, in 1999, he began organizing seed fairs giving farmers themselves access to different varieties of crops and bypassing the government distribution centres and scientists who had traditionally told farmers what to grow and kept seed banks under lock and key.

He also organized sessions where members of Cuban agricultural co-operatives could share their know-how.