Engineer Sandra Fernandez is the Vice President of the Chapter “Innovation in Primary Production and Agro-Alimentary Industries (IPPAI)” of the World Congress and Exhibition ENGINEERING 2010-ARGENTINA and also chairs the Committee of Agrifood Engineering and Biotechnology of UPADI. In this newsletter, she gives us her opinion on engineering contributions in relation to the important innovations in the agro-alimentary industry.

Which do you think are the most important innovations that will contribute to food production from the point of view of engineering and technology? And, why?

Engineering, in all its specialties related to the agrifood chain, is playing a key role in the improvement of food productivity and quality. Considering primary production, it is worth mentioning the improvements in the adaptability conditions to drought, salinity, pests and other adverse conditions, thus enhancing the possibilities of growing species in areas which have been only used for cattle raising. Genetic engineering has contributed a lot and the advances are remarkable but there is still a long way to go. As regards industrialization, there are also relevant advances in quality management that make it possible to enrich food and use it to prevent diseases or otherwise to adapt it to people suffering from intolerances. On the other hand, we should not forget the many other branches of engineering which contribute to the development of the sector, such as agricultural machinery, irrigation equipment, satellite information systems, etc.

How do you foresee the future of biotechnology and the contribution of engineering to the agrifood industry?

The future of biotechnology, and particularly that of genetic engineering, opens up an endless horizon. The technique of interspecific genetic combination allows the possibility of adding desirable attributes to species so as to have organisms with the most convenient features for each particular situation. We could then consider super crops adapted to even extreme conditions, or super foods with attributes or their combinations, desirable for human health. However, the controls required for this type of technologies should be careful and exhaustive. We should insist that the tests carried out before launching new products into the market must fulfill the innocuousness and quality requirements of every new product prior to its publicity and use. Engineering should also contribute to a more rational use of resources and to the implementation of clean production systems and commit itself to the world food safety.