Productivity and Efficiency of Agricultural and Livestock Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The agricultural and livestock sectors face significant structural, operational, market, and environmental challenges, which pose threats to their future sustainability. Farmers and processors, on the one hand, need to address the mandate of the Grean Deal and the consumer expectations for “green” and environmentally friendly products and high animal welfare, on the other hand, they must face the increasing pressure to intensify production, which is driven by global markets and volatile producer prices. To cater to these needs, the sectors must incorporate significant changes in farm management practices that will allow the efficient valorization of production technology. The resilience and the economic sustainability of farms will benefit from the identification and adoption of improved production techniques, innovations, and effective management practices that will support farm activities and ensure a satisfactory income.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together contributions from a wide range of disciplines relating to the measurement, analysis, and improvements in productivity components, particularly innovation and the efficiency of crop and livestock production (agricultural economics, performance analysis, livestock production and animal husbandry, management sciences, operations research, environmental analysis, etc.) to highlight transdisciplinary advancements. Contributions that share results of research projects and real-life industry applications are particularly welcome.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Efficiency analysis of crop and livestock systems;
• Performance and productivity analysis of crop and livestock systems;
• Best observed managerial practices for sustainable crop and livestock systems;
• Optimization of agricultural activities;
• Agricultural eco-efficiency/life-cycle impact assessment of farming systems;
• Agricultural policies, economics transitions, and productivity;
• Efficient management of natural resources/ecosystem services;
• Novel agri-food systems/sustainable food value chains

Prof. Dr. Katerina Melfou
Dr. Alexandros Theodoridis
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. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• efficiency
• productivity
• sustainability
• innovations
• best practices
• competitiveness
• optimization
• sustainable use of resources
• sustainable food value chains