Agriculture probably emerged between 10 and 15 thousand years ago, when people still lived in small nomadic groups and survived by hunting and gathering fruit and grain (MATOS, 2012). Recently, about 50 years ago, large-scale food production began for the world's growing population. Society's concern about the impact of agriculture on the environment and the contamination of the food chain with pesticides has changed the agricultural landscape, demanding new technologies, including sustainable agriculture, which is based on four fundamental foundations: sustainability (ability to maintain the system in existence for a long period of time when subjected to stress), stability (consistent achievement of yield in the short or long term), productivity (production capacity per area) and equity (relative distribution of wealth in society) (BORGES et al., 2016).