Technological Innovation, Adoption, and Implementation in Agri-Food Supply Chains

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Economics, Policies and Rural Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2025 | Viewed by 1040

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Management, Swansea University, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK
Interests: agri-food industry; supply chain risk management; supply chain resilience; decision-making; knowledge management; sustainable supply chain
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Guest Editor
Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
Interests: agri-food supply chain; decision support systems; knowledge management; lean operations; sustainable supply chain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) represent the interconnected events, from farm to fork, that include all the stages of production, processing, wholesaling, distribution, and consumption. AFSCs aim to provide sustainable, affordable, safe, and sufficient food, fibre, and fuel to consumers. However, AFSCs are facing various challenges that make it difficult to undertake these tasks. For example, climate change causes extreme weather conditions that may affect farm production, and geopolitical events can result in increases in the costs of agrichemicals and fertilizers. In the face of increasingly uncertain business and environmental environments, the only feasible way to ensure smooth and effective operations in AFSCs is by facilitating, adopting, and implementing technological innovations. These include intelligent greenhouses, water and fertilizer integrated systems, automatic harvesters and tractors, drones, and cloud computing, and they are currently being developed and gradually applied to different stages of AFSCs. To contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 2, which is Zero Hunger, we are launching this Special Issue to explore the adoption and implementation of technological innovations in AFSCs. This Special Issue welcomes contributions on the following themes (although this list is not exclusive):

  • Literature reviews on agri-food technological innovations;
  • Adoption and implementation of technological innovations to enhance AFSC performance;
  • Factors facilitating the adoption of technological innovations in AFSCs;
  • Barriers impeding the adoption of technological innovations in AFSCs;
  • Technological innovations that support the digitalization of AFSCs;
  • Other themes relevant to technological innovations, adoption, and implementation in AFSCs.

Theoretical and empirical papers relevant to this topic are welcome. Authors are encouraged to use various methodologies and adopt a range of theoretical frameworks.

Dr. Guoqing Zhao
Dr. Huilan Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • agri-food supply chain
  • technological innovations
  • adoption and implementation of technological innovations
  • digitalization of agri-food supply chains

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 3463 KiB  
Article
Reorienting Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture: A Study Based on Bean’s Traditional Knowledge Management
by David Israel Contreras-Medina, Luis Miguel Contreras-Medina, Verónica Cerroblanco-Vázquez, María del Consuelo Gallardo-Aguilar, José Porfirio González-Farías, Sergio Ernesto Medina-Cuellar, Andrea Acosta-Montenegro, Lexy Yahaira Lemus-Martínez, Berenice Moreno-Ojeda and Alan David Negrete-López
Agriculture 2025, 15(5), 560; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15050560 - 6 Mar 2025
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Abstract
Historically, innovation has been a milestone in achieving sustainable agriculture for small-scale producers. For several centuries, innovation has improved agricultural activity. However, there is still the challenge of introducing technologies pertinent to the knowledge and practices of small producers to achieve sustainability. Therefore, [...] Read more.
Historically, innovation has been a milestone in achieving sustainable agriculture for small-scale producers. For several centuries, innovation has improved agricultural activity. However, there is still the challenge of introducing technologies pertinent to the knowledge and practices of small producers to achieve sustainability. Therefore, the present study explores the traditional knowledge embedded in the activities of Planting–Harvest and First Disposal circuit (PHFDc) of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) for its innovation involving the social, economic, and environmental context. Applying the methodology of roadmapping technology to 73 small-scale producers in Guanajuato, Mexico, combining the SDGs catalogue, in addition to statistical analysis, the results show access to government financial support; improving sales price, production, area, and profitability; having accessible tools; creating their inputs; in addition to having more excellent knowledge for plant care and advice as strategies to develop within economic sustainability. In this sense, based on the assertion that social and productive conditions are directly related to innovation, the proposal for reorientation is towards the creation of word credit, improving bean varieties, sustainable practices, mechanical seeders, bean corridors, and the connection with associations and institutes as the most pertinent ones that are developing in similar contexts. This research can be significant for small producers and the general population regarding food security, zero hunger, and the fight against climate change, as well as for researchers and politicians who support continuing new studies. Full article
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