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AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 43039

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pier Paolo Miglietta

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Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano/Bozen, 39100 Bolzano/Bozen, Italy
Interests: agricultural economics and management; agri-engineering; life cycle assessment; water resource management; environmental and natural resource economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Marco Vieri

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Department of Agricultural, Alimentary, Environmental and Forestry Sciences—Division Biosystem Engineering, University of Florence, 50144 Florence, Italy
Interests: sustainable agricultural food production engineering
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Dr. Rosa Micale

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Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: supply chains; project management; multi-criteria optimization; facility layout problem; warehouse management; sustainability; shelf life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Valeria Stefanelli

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Universita del Salento, Lecce, Italy
Interests: corporate governance and internal controls in financial intermediaries; competitive models of cooperative credit banks; compliance and banking transparency; credit risk management and bank and business relationship

Dr. Giulio Paolo Agnusdei

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Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: logistics; supply chain management; safety; agrifood supply chain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the AgriFood field of research, economics, finance, and engineering have historically been developed as distinct, non-overlapping sciences. However, it is increasingly clear that sustainable agriculture and food production cannot be achieved without a simultaneous focus on the above-cited disciplines.

Agricultural sustainability is essential for the continued viability of communities and territories. For this reason, the societal challenge consists of finding a balance between the economic, financial, and managerial practices and environmental and social needs.

This Special Issue seeks to demonstrate the important role that interdisciplinary approaches can play towards a sustainable future. It is intended to propose strategies and methods for approaching sustainable goals and thus enhance our ability to develop the AgriFood 4.0 era referring to the following topics:

Future scenarios for sustainable and profitable agricultural systems
Innovative solutions and case studies of successful circular economy and bioeconomy models in agriculture
Sustainable management of agriculture waste, byproducts, residues, and biomass
Sustainable agri-food, value chain and labels, short trade market, and competitiveness
Value chain marketing and quality attributes based on circular bioeconomy and sustainability
Mechanization and technologies for agricultural production
Bio-innovation and green infrastructures in agricultural systems
IoT and artificial intelligence to support the integration of circular economy and bioeconomy
Sustainable management of natural resources and agro-ecology principles in agriculture
Financial and insurance instruments, schemes, and other incentives for agricultural sustainability and resilience
Indicators of sustainability and resource use efficiency for the circular economy/bioeconomy
Health and wellbeing along the value chain and of consumers at large

Dr. Pier Paolo Miglietta
Prof. Dr. Marco Vieri
Dr. Rosa Micale
Prof. Dr. Valeria Stefanelli
Dr. Giulio Paolo Agnusdei
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 1776 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Value Perception, Environmental Regulation and Their Interaction on the Improvement of Herdsmen’s Grassland Ecological Policy Satisfaction

by Mingyue Li, Pujie Zhao, Lianbei Wu and Kai Chen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3078; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063078 - 17 Mar 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2626

Abstract

Sustainable utilization of grassland resources was an important topic concerned by worldwide countries and regions, and ecological compensation had gradually become the main policy tool for grassland environmental management and ecological protection. This study adopted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, and multiordered Logit model was then used to explore herdsmen’s satisfaction with Grassland Ecological Conservation Subsidy and Reward Policy (GECSRP) focusing on identifying the key factors behind it. Results showed that herdsmen were not satisfied with GECSRP on the whole, while value perception, environmental regulation and their interaction played a positive role on improving the satisfaction. Specifically, economic benefits had the strongest promotion impacts, followed by social identity in the two-dimensional variables of value perception. The guiding regulation had stronger promoting impacts, followed by the incentive regulation in the two-dimensional variables of environmental regulation. Interestingly, incentive regulation played an enhanced interaction on the influence of economic benefits and environmental value on herdsmen’s satisfaction, yet the interaction between guiding regulation and environmental value was not significant. These indicated that herdsmen paid more attention to substantial subsidies and rewards in the process of ecological livestock husbandry, and environmental regulation formulated by government had a phenomenon of “relative system failure”. Thus, the grassland ecological environment policy should be further adjusted and improved to promote the economic development of pastoral areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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17 pages, 336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rural Financial Development Impacts on Agricultural Technology Innovation: Evidence from China

by Yuyu Liu, Duan Ji, Lin Zhang, Jingjing An and Wenyan Sun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 1110; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031110 - 27 Jan 2021

Cited by 50 | Viewed by 6636

Abstract

Agricultural technology innovation is key for improving productivity, sustainability, and resilience in food production and agriculture to contribute to public health. Using panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2003 to 2015, this study examines the impact of rural financial development on agricultural technology innovation from the perspective of rural financial scale and rural finance efficiency. Furthermore, it examines how the effects of rural financial development vary in regions with different levels of marketization and economic development. The empirical results show that the development of rural finance has a significant and positive effect on the level of agricultural technology innovation. Rural finance efficiency has a significantly positive effect on innovation in regions with a low degree of marketization, while the rural financial scale has a significantly positive effect on technological innovation in regions with a high degree of marketization. Further analysis showed that improving the level of agricultural technology innovation is conducive to rural economic development. This study provides new insights into the effects of rural financial development on sustainable agricultural development from the perspective of agricultural technology innovation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

12 pages, 491 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Does Part-Time Farming Affect Farmers’ Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Jianghan Plain, China?

by Xin Yang and Yiming Sang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5983; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165983 - 18 Aug 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2690

Abstract

Part-time farming has been suggested by scholars to play an important part in farmers’ decision making, but seldom empirical evidence has been done on the field of conservation agriculture (CA) technology adoption worldwide. Based on the field survey data of 433 farmers in Jianghan Plain, China, this paper estimate the impact of part-time farming on farmers’ adoption of CA technology by applying the multivariate logistic model. The results show that 91.92% of the farmers adopted CA technology. Part-time farming had a highly significant positive influence on the likelihood of adoption. Moreover, the impact degree increased along with the deepening of part-time farming. In addition, farmers’ adoption behaviors were affected by gender, contracted land area, economic welfare cognition and social welfare cognition. Our results help to understand farmers’ complex decision-making on farmland and to promote the sustainable development of agriculture in Jianghan Plain. A somewhat targeted approach to design policies to support technological, policy and institutional interventions to encourage farmers to engage in part-time farming are recommended, especially in areas that share similar edaphic and climatic characteristics with Jianghan Plain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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14 pages, 1086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Food Price Volatility and Asymmetries in Rural Areas of South Mediterranean Countries: A Copula-Based GARCH Model

by Fabian Capitanio, Giorgia Rivieccio and Felice Adinolfi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5855; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165855 - 12 Aug 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2740

Abstract

Many discussions following the 2007/08 food price crisis have revolved around the magnitude of the negative impacts that it may have had on food security worldwide. In South-Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMC), food security is strongly interrelated with several key economic and political issues. Many of these countries are becoming increasingly import-dependent, particularly on cereals, which are the essential raw material for human and animal food and feed. Due to both their economic system structure and consumption, the SEMC are responsible for a third of world cereals imports, whereas they account for only 5% of the world population. Given the set of constraints and this dependence on global markets, SEMC will be probably more exposed to severe swings in agricultural commodity prices in the coming years. In this view, this study examines the dependence structure among global food grain markets and Morocco and provides flexible models for dependency and the conditional volatility GARCH. A copula-based GARCH model has been carried out to estimate the marginal distributions of Morocco and world cereals commodity price changes. The results revealed that the joint co-movement between agricultural commodity price changes around the world and in Morocco, are generally considerable and there exists asymmetric tail dependence. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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23 pages, 1777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Authenticity and Tradition Shift into Sustainability and Innovation: Evidence from Italian Agritourism

by Pamela Palmi and Greta Enrica Lezzi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5389; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155389 - 27 Jul 2020

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5507

Abstract

This study investigates the topic of innovation strategies based on tradition in the wake of sustainability, in the agritourism sector, as derived from the phenomenon of multifunctionality in agriculture. The results reveal that the tangible and intangible resources that originate from tradition are drivers for innovation. The research highlights how tradition, as grounded on diverse foundations, is able to generate novel products and services stemming from an innovative arrangement of past events, particularly the identity of a place, which brings out its authenticity and makes it even more attractive. In this paper, we delve into the multifaceted outcomes that tangible and intangible traditions have on the innovation and distinctive standing of this rising accommodation offer with regard to post-productivism agriculture, and how this is accomplished while also looking for sustainability. The sourced dataset is based on a qualitative investigation of 10 cases in the Salento area of Puglia, a region of southern Italy. Tradition-grounded strategies proved to have several viable routes leading to innovation and bear positive impacts on the territory and the creation of value, yielding significant results both for scholars and practitioners. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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19 pages, 2923 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Evolutionary Game Model for the Multi-Agent Co-Governance of Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Control under Intensive Management Pattern in China

by Lingyan Xu, Zhuoyun Zhou and Jianguo Du

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2472; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072472 - 4 Apr 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3548

Abstract

This paper focuses on the sustainable development dilemma of agricultural production in China under the pattern of intensive management, which is seriously challenged by agricultural non-point source pollution. The key to effectively break through the dilemma is to promote the co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution control by stakeholders including local governments, new agricultural operators and traditional farmers. Accordingly, this paper discusses the interactive decision-making relationships between new agricultural operators and traditional farmers under the guidance of local governments, by constructing a trilateral evolutionary game model, as well as analyzing evolutionary cooperative stability strategies and realizing the simulation of evolution processes in different scenarios by MATLAB. The results show that new agricultural operators play a leading role in agricultural non-point source pollution control, whose strategies have effects such as technology spillover. The rewards from the superior government will support local governments in taking proactive action in the co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution control, and then local governments can offer technical support and subsidies to new agricultural operators and traditional farmers for reducing their costs. Furthermore, this paper also finds that there are green synergy effects among the groups, where the variations of parameters and strategies by one group would affect the two others. Additionally, agricultural land operation rights transfers would cause traditional farmers to take more time to cooperate in the co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution control. In order to promote the multi-agent co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution control under intensive management pattern, this paper suggests that it should be necessary to reduce their costs and improve incentives, as well as to increase the common interests among groups and enhance their green synergy effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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16 pages, 855 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adoption of Precision Farming Tools: The Case of Italian Farmers

by Yari Vecchio, Giulio Paolo Agnusdei, Pier Paolo Miglietta and Fabian Capitanio

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(3), 869; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030869 - 30 Jan 2020

Cited by 90 | Viewed by 10566

Abstract

The process of adopting innovation, especially with regard to precision farming (PF), is inherently complex and social, and influenced by producers, change agents, social norms and organizational pressure. An empirical analysis was conducted among Italian farmers to measure the drivers and clarify “bottlenecks” in the adoption of agricultural innovation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the socio-structural and complexity factors that affect the probability to adopt innovations and the determinants that drive an individual’s decisions. Preliminary results found high levels of adoption among younger farmers, those that had a high level of education, those with high intensity of information, with large farm sizes, and high labor intensity. A logit model was used to understand the role played by labor intensity and perceived in the adoption process. In light of the Common Agricultural Policy Reform post 2020, the findings suggest relevant policy implications, such as the need to increase awareness of PF tools and foster dissemination of information aimed at reducing the degree of perceived complexity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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Review

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20 pages, 575 KiB

Open AccessReview

Allergic Anaphylactic Risk in Farming Activities: A Systematic Review

by Giulio Arcangeli, Veronica Traversini, Emanuela Tomasini, Antonio Baldassarre, Luigi Isaia Lecca, Raymond P. Galea and Nicola Mucci

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(14), 4921; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17144921 - 8 Jul 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3471

Abstract

Allergic disorders in the agriculture sector are very common among farm workers, causing many injuries and occupational diseases every year. Agricultural employees are exposed to multiple conditions and various allergenic substances, which could be related to onset of anaphylactic reactions. This systematic review highlights the main clinical manifestation, the allergens that are mostly involved and the main activities that are usually involved. This research includes articles published on the major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus), using a combination of keywords. The online search yielded 489 references; after selection, by the authors, 36 articles (nine reviews and 27 original articles) were analyzed. From this analysis, the main clinical problems that were diagnosed in this category were respiratory (ranging from rhinitis to asthma) and dermatological (eczema, dermatitis, hives) in nature, with a wide symptomatology (from a simple local reaction to anaphylaxis). The main activities associated with these allergic conditions are harvesting or cultivation of fruit and cereals, beekeepers and people working in greenhouses. Finally, in addition to the allergens already known, new ones have emerged, including triticale, wine, spider and biological dust. For these reasons, in the agricultural sector, research needs to be amplified, considering new sectors, new technologies and new products, and ensuring a system of prevention to reduce this risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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18 pages, 1596 KiB

Open AccessReview

Upper Limb’s Injuries in Agriculture: A Systematic Review

by Nicola Mucci, Veronica Traversini, Lucrezia G. Lulli, Antonio Baldassarre, Raymond P. Galea and Giulio Arcangeli

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(12), 4501; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124501 - 23 Jun 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3992

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous economic sectors, and it accounts for many accidents and occupational diseases every year. In Italy, about one-third of injuries involve the upper extremity, with long-term consequences for the workers and economic damage for agricultural companies and farms. This systematic review describes upper limb injuries among farmworkers, especially hand injuries, and highlights the main dangerous risk factors. Literature review included articles published in the major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus), using a combination of some relevant keywords. This online search yielded 951 references; after selection, the authors analyzed 53 articles (3 narrative reviews and 50 original articles). From this analysis, it appears that younger male farmers are mostly involved, especially in the harvesting season. The upper limb and hand are often the body parts that sustain most damage as these are mostly involved in driving tractors or tools. The most frequent type of lesions are open wounds, lacerations, fractures, strains, and overexertion lesions. Sometimes, a distracting element (such as mobile phone use, quarrels, working hours load) is present; poor use of protective devices and lack of safety design in tools can also increase the risk of accidents. For these reasons, in the agricultural sector, a system of health promotion and good practices is needed to promote workers’ awareness of the sources of risk, highlight more dangerous situations and apply organizational behavioral measures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AgriFood 4.0: Economics, Finance and Engineering for Sustainable Futures)

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