A Química na agricultura: perspectivas para o desenvolvimento de tecnologias sustentáveis

Food production and preservation of the environment are among the challenges faced by contemporary society. In Brazil, as in most parts of the world, the possibility of increasing the agricultural area is limited by several factors. Thus, an increase in productivity through the application of innovative technologies is regarded as the best solution to overcome such a problem. For long, chemistry has contributed to agricultural innovations such as synthetic pesticides for pest management. However, due to the well-known adverse effects of these compounds, new "greener" strategies are being explored. Research in chemical ecology, in combination with other emerging sciences, is leading to the development of new technologies such as plant-based pesticides (biopesticides); synthetic pheromones and plant volatile organic compounds, both of them to manipulate insect behavior; chemical elicitors to boost plant resistance; and genetic engineering of plant varieties. In these, chemistry plays an important role in the identification and synthesis of functional compounds. These techniques may be incorporated in integrated pest management programs and may contribute to a sustainable agriculture in the future.