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Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 7490

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Liang Lu

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Guest Editor

Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
Interests: supply chain design and management; technology innovation and adoption; economics of pest management; behavioral economics

Dr. Jason Winfree

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Guest Editor

Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
Interests: economics of market structures; industrial organization; collective reputation; food quality standards; sports economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This issue will examine innovation and agricultural markets. The primary focus will be on the economics of various production innovations throughout the supply chain. As new production techniques are created, this increases product differentiation and consumer choice. These papers will identify new types of production in agriculture and examine their profitability, sustainability, and resilience in various markets. The viability of these new production techniques may depend upon consumer demand and acceptance, as well as any cost efficiencies. The literature on innovations and supply chains is limited to critical emerging issues in agri-food markets. Papers should include but are not limited to agricultural economics topics related to advancements in methodology and empirical studies of innovation and supply chains. These topics include but are not limited to:

Labor-saving technologies in agriculture;
Bioeconomy and animal welfare;
Technology innovation and adoption in agricultural supply chains;
Innovation in local food systems;
Risks in agricultural supply chains;
Efficiency and resilience of agri-food supply chains;
Global food value chain.

Dr. Liang Lu
Dr. Jason Winfree
Guest Editors

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

technology innovation
supply chain
risk
resilience

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2776 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Agro-Food Supply Chains in Peri-Urban Agricultural Areas: Do They Contribute to Preserve Local Biodiversity? The Case of Baix Llobregat Agrarian Park

by Jon Marín, Teresa Garnatje and Joan Vallès

Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2882; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072882 - 29 Mar 2024

Viewed by 619

Abstract

Peri-urban regions, especially in the Mediterranean, face challenges like farmland loss due to urban pressure. This study emphasizes retail stores as strategic focal points for evaluating societal, economic, and production systems. It hypothesizes that analyzing retail stores in agricultural areas provides insights into traded and cultivated agrobiodiversity. Using the Baix Llobregat Agrarian Park (Catalonia, NE Iberian Peninsula) as a case study, this research examines different food retailers from short and conventional food supply chains. Results indicate variations in plant diversity, origin, and seasonality among different retail stores. Farmers’ markets exhibit higher intraspecific diversity, contributing to local agrobiodiversity conservation. This study observes temporal changes in farmers’ markets, highlighting shifts influenced by socioeconomic factors and climate change perceptions. Finally, this research underscores certain strategies to promote sustainable peri-urban local food systems and preserve agrobiodiversity, offering valuable insights into food supply chain dynamics in peri-urban agricultural regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management)

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19 pages, 3113 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investment Decision of Blockchain Technology in Fresh Food Supply Chains Considering Misreporting Behavior

by Zhangwei Feng, Peng Jin and Guiping Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7421; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097421 - 29 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1572

Abstract

Effectively managing fresh food supply chains (FFSCs) has long been a big challenge owing to the complexity in practice. Adoption of innovative technologies, blockchain traceability (BT), and cold-chain preservation (CP) technology to improve the efficiency of FFSC management has attracted much attention practically and academically. Distinct from existing studies, this paper provides a specific insight into the application of these two technologies by taking into account their functions in restraining misreporting behavior with BT technology due to its traceability and transparency and improving the freshness with CP technology based on the investment in fresh preservation equipment. With this in mind, this paper develops game theoretic models to identify the conditions under which technologies are the optimal selection for the supplier/retailer. It assumes that the retailer is the Stackelberg leader and the supplier is the follower. The key findings show that: (1) with the foci to eliminate suppliers’ misreporting behavior and minimize the incentive fees, BT investment can increase prices and promote order quantities and demand; (2) only when the consumers demonstrate “appropriate” sensitivity to freshness, a win–win situation can be achieved without adoption of BT technology; and (3) suppliers are not keen to invest in BT or CP technology when the circulation time is short, while retailers prefer to invest in CP technology when the circulation time is long. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management)

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17 pages, 1053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Empirical Study of Financial Efficiency and Stability of Shrimp–Mangrove Farming Model in Nam Dinh Province, Red River Delta, Vietnam

by Ngo Thanh Mai, Tran Thi Lan Huong, Tran Tho Dat and Dinh Duc Truong

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6062; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076062 - 31 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1386

Abstract

Shrimp–mangrove farming is a favorable production model suitable for the Red River Delta, Vietnam. This study was carried out in Nam Dinh province to evaluate the effectiveness and stability of the shrimp–mangrove farming model in the area. A participatory approach was carried out through surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews with 415 farming households in the Giao Thien and Giao An districts, the buffer zone of Xuan Thuy National Park, in 2022. We then used a cost–benefit analysis model to evaluate the financial performance and stability of the shrimp farming model. SWOT analysis was also used to identify opportunities and threats to this model. The research results showed that the shrimp–mangrove model has the advantages of low investment costs, diversified income sources, low risk, and environmental sustainability. However, the limitations of the model are low financial efficiency and not high stability. The main difficulties of the model are poor quality breeds, diseases, limited farming techniques of farmers, limited infrastructure system, the impacts of climate change, and low productivity. The study also proposes management implications to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of shrimp farming in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management)

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19 pages, 567 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climate Smart Pest Management

by Xiaoxue Du, Levan Elbakidze, Liang Lu and R. Garth Taylor

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 9832; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169832 - 9 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1349

Abstract

This study examines the role of weather and pest infestation forecasts in agricultural pest management, taking into account potential correlation between weather and pest population prediction errors. First, we analytically illustrate the role of the correlation between weather and pest infestation forecast errors in pest management using a stochastic optimal control framework. Next, using stochastic dynamic programming, we empirically simulate optimal pest management trajectory within a growing season, taking into account correlation between weather and pest population prediction errors. We used lentil production in the Palouse area of northern Idaho and eastern Washington as a case study, where pesticide use was restricted due to environmental or health reasons. We showed that the benefit of applying pesticides later in the growing season can outweigh benefits of early application when pesticide use is restricted due to environmental or health regulations. The value of information is close to $9 per acre, approximately 8% of the expected net returns per acre, and close to $12 per acre ($106–$94), or approximately 13% of the expected net returns per acre for the baseline versus the climate change scenarios, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management)

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17 pages, 642 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A General-Equilibrium Model of Labor-Saving Technology Adoption: Theory and Evidences from Robotic Milking Systems in Idaho

by Xiaoxue Du, Hernan Tejeda, Zhengliang Yang and Liang Lu

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7683; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137683 - 23 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1895

Abstract

Automatic milking systems (AMSs) have become increasingly common in the US in the past few years. Recent surveys from Idaho, one of the largest dairy-producing states, as well as from other states and countries, suggest that: 1. among farms adopting robotic milking systems, few are reporting less labor usage after adopting this labor-saving technology; 2. small farms rather than large farms are adopting (or more interested in adopting) robotic milking systems. In this article, we propose a series of new modeling strategies, which introduces the role of general-equilibrium effects to explain these new stylized facts. We show that: first, farms adopting labor-saving technology may, in fact, use more labor to compensate for the loss in the value of labor; second, when smaller farms experience more labor efficiency gains or value their leisure time (or off-farm income) more, they are more likely than larger farms to adopt the new technology. We contribute to the technology-adoption literature in two important ways. First, to our knowledge, this is the first article that introduces general-equilibrium effects to the technology-adoption literature. Second, this is also the first article that provides a theoretical perspective to explain the stylized facts in the adoption of robotic milking systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Agriculture-Food Supply Chain from Innovation, Design, and Management)

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