Maple Syrup and Sugar Crops: Market and Climate Challenges and Potential Pathways for Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

As a result of climate change, market fluctuations, and trade disputes and retaliations, the maple syrup and sugar crop industries are currently facing many challenges associated with their sustainable development. The establishment of this Special Issue is motivated by the urgent need for interdisciplinary studies on the challenges faced by the maple syrup and sugar crop industries, and the limited information available in the existing literature.  

Maple syrup has been an economically and culturally unique and vital food product in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States for centuries. Its production has increased remarkably in the past four decades due to technical advances, increased private and public investment, and a worldwide increase in demand for the product. While maple syrup is widely considered to be liquid gold from trees, with a wide range of economic, community and cultural significance, the maple industry is facing bitter market conditions and other challenges such as climate change. For example, U.S. maple producers have experienced a downward trend in the producer price since 2008. There is therefore a growing need for information and strategies based on interdisciplinary research.  

While the sugar crop industry faces similar challenges associated with climate change and market fluctuations, it has also been affected by many trade disputes and retaliations in recent years. This is because sugar is a highly traded commodity across nations and is subject to very complex tariff, quota and other government interventions.    

The principal aim of this Special Issue’s is to publish a set of problem-driven research articles that address the urgent issues faced by the maple syrup and sugar crop industries. This focus directly relates to and contributes to the journal’s scope of sustainable agricultural development.

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

• economic contributions of the maple syrup and sugar crop sector;
• growth of the domestic and international markets for maple syrup and sugar;
• impacts of trade policy and interventions;
• impacts of Qubec’s maple producer federation and other interventions;
• impacts of climate change on the maple and sugar crop sector;
• cultural and community aspects of the maple and sugar sector;
• new maple product development and market potential;
• impacts of new technologies in the maple and sugar crop industries;
• producers’ need for information and education;
• consumer preferences and willingness to pay for maple and sugar products and their attributes;
• alternative marketing channels for maple syrup and sugar;
• health and nutritional values of maple syrup in comparison with sugar;
• environmental impacts of the maple and sugar crop sector.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this Special Issue. I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Qingbin Wang
Guest Editor

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• maple syrup
• sugar crop
• sugarcane
• sugar beet
• sustainable agriculture
• agricultural trade
• climate change
• producer education
• food product development