Environmental and Economic Performance of Farming and Food Systems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 87063
Special Issue Editor
Interests: agroecology; food systems; cropping systems; soil quality; pest management; entomology; horticulture; climate change mitigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Understanding the environmental and economic consequences of current and future farming and food systems is fundamental for addressing the complicated and interrelated sustainability challenges we face as a society. Food production and consumption account for a substantial part of the total greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water consumption, and other environmental impacts. Traditional and emerging approaches to address these issues have economic consequences that may be positive or negative for farmers, consumers, and others in the supply chain. The goal of this Special Issue is to offer insights into how different practices, systems, technologies, and approaches to food production affect environmental and economic performance.
Field experiments, case studies, and reviews assessing environmental and/or economic aspects of farming and food will be considered. Topics could include the following: production systems, such as organic farming, cover cropping, conservation tillage, crop and livestock integration, hydroponics/aquaponics, agroforestry, rooftop farming, and urban farming; new developments in life and food sciences, such as conventional breeding, genetic engineering, plant-based meat and milk alternatives, and CRISPR; supply chain innovations, like community supported agriculture (CSA), food hubs, farmers’ markets, value-added production, blockchain technologies, e-commerce, and third-party certifications; and information technologies and robotics, such as smart farming, artificial intelligence (AI), robotic weeders, drones, robotic milking systems, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Performance assessment methods and variables could include life cycle assessment (LCA), greenhouse gas emissions, water-use efficiency, energy efficiency, soil quality, costs of production, profitability, farm resilience, biodiversity protection, pesticide and fertilizer use, labor efficiency, food miles, and dietary and health effects.
Prof. Sean Clark
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- community supported agriculture (CSA)
- food hubs
- organic farming
- artificial intelligence
- value-added production
- supply chains
- smart farming
- greenhouse gas emissions
- appropriate technology
- profitability
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.