Strategies for sustainable plant food production: Facing the current agricultural challenges-agriculture for today and tomorrow

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.