Chapter 1
Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food
Production: Facing the Current
Agricultural Challenges—Agriculture
for Today and Tomorrow
Lina Garcia-Mier, Sandra Neli Jimenez-Garcia,
Angela María Chapa-Oliver, Laura Mejia-Teniente,
Rosalía V. Ocampo-Velazquez, Enrique Rico-García,
Ana A. Feregrino-Pérez, Ramon Guevara-Gonzalez
and Irineo Torres-Pacheco
Abstract Plants are fundamental elements of the human diet, either as direct
sources of nutrients or indirectly as feed for animals. During the past years, the
main goal of agriculture has been to increase yield in order to provide the food that
is needed by a growing world population. However, as important as yield, but
commonly forgotten in conventional agriculture, is to retain and, if possible, to
increase the phytochemical content due to their health implications. By 2025, the
global population will exceed 7 billion. In the short term, per capita availability of
arable land and irrigation water will decrease from year to year while biotic and
abiotic stresses expand. Food security, defined as economic, physical, and social
access to a balanced diet and harmless drinking water will be a compromise, with a
holistic approach to nutritional and non-nutritional factors needed to achieve
success in the eradication of hunger. Science and technology will play a very
important role in stimulating and sustaining agriculture leading to long-term
increases in productivity without linked ecological harm.
L. Garcia-Mier Á S. N. Jimenez-Garcia Á A. M. Chapa-Oliver Á L. Mejia-Teniente Á
R. V. Ocampo-Velazquez Á E. Rico-García Á A. A. Feregrino-Pérez Á
R. Guevara-González (&) Á I. Torres-Pacheco (&)
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, C.U Cerro de las Campanas,
S/N, colonia Las Campanas, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
e-mail: ramon.guevara@uaq.mx
I. Torres-Pacheco
e-mail: irineo.torres@uaq.mx
R. Guevara-Gonzalez and I. Torres-Pacheco (eds.), Biosystems Engineering:
Biofactories for Food Production in the Century XXI, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03880-3_1,
Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
1
Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food
Production: Facing the Current
Agricultural Challenges—Agriculture
for Today and Tomorrow
Lina Garcia-Mier, Sandra Neli Jimenez-Garcia,
Angela María Chapa-Oliver, Laura Mejia-Teniente,
Rosalía V. Ocampo-Velazquez, Enrique Rico-García,
Ana A. Feregrino-Pérez, Ramon Guevara-Gonzalez
and Irineo Torres-Pacheco
Abstract Plants are fundamental elements of the human diet, either as direct
sources of nutrients or indirectly as feed for animals. During the past years, the
main goal of agriculture has been to increase yield in order to provide the food that
is needed by a growing world population. However, as important as yield, but
commonly forgotten in conventional agriculture, is to retain and, if possible, to
increase the phytochemical content due to their health implications. By 2025, the
global population will exceed 7 billion. In the short term, per capita availability of
arable land and irrigation water will decrease from year to year while biotic and
abiotic stresses expand. Food security, defined as economic, physical, and social
access to a balanced diet and harmless drinking water will be a compromise, with a
holistic approach to nutritional and non-nutritional factors needed to achieve
success in the eradication of hunger. Science and technology will play a very
important role in stimulating and sustaining agriculture leading to long-term
increases in productivity without linked ecological harm.
L. Garcia-Mier Á S. N. Jimenez-Garcia Á A. M. Chapa-Oliver Á L. Mejia-Teniente Á
R. V. Ocampo-Velazquez Á E. Rico-García Á A. A. Feregrino-Pérez Á
R. Guevara-González (&) Á I. Torres-Pacheco (&)
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, C.U Cerro de las Campanas,
S/N, colonia Las Campanas, 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
e-mail: ramon.guevara@uaq.mx
I. Torres-Pacheco
e-mail: irineo.torres@uaq.mx
R. Guevara-Gonzalez and I. Torres-Pacheco (eds.), Biosystems Engineering:
Biofactories for Food Production in the Century XXI, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03880-3_1,
Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
1