Special Issue "COVID-19 Crises & Implications to Agri-Food Sector"
Special Issue Editor
Interests: nanostructured aluminosilicates; composite materials; functional materials; ash matrices; adsorbents; drug carrier; drug delivery; bone tissue engineering; biosensors; biomarkers; ecoengineering; bioengineering; waste management; end-to-waste point; circular bioeconomy
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Human food supply is strongly dependent on agronomy sciences and agriculture. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis and the global lockdown measures (border closure, social restrictions/distancing, limited access to raw materials and agrochemicals, labour shortages), unprecedented disruptions in agri-food systems as well as food safety and security have occurred. The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted even some of the most resilient agri-food sub-sectors (e.g., free-range farming, organic agriculture), in both self-sufficient and strongly import-dependent economies. Such disturbances in the agri-food market and challenges to the demand–supply system have never been recorded before and are still persisting, as no effective and holistic solutions have been found so far. Many fresh and low-processed agri-foodstuffs have a short shelf-life or require special post-harvest storage and transport conditions, which additionally elevates the production costs and weakens agriculture competitiveness with respect to its productivity before the pandemic. Many agricultural sectors have failed to change and adapt to the new situation caused by the pandemic, recording huge losses. However, some agricultural businesses were able to react, demonstrating strong resilience and flexibility, by applying ICT and smart innovative solutions (e-farm-to-market-to-table food supply, e-gardening, e-advisory services) and by diversifying their production modalities and offer (supported aggregations, development and promotion of locally based models).
For this Special Issue, manuscripts presenting novel research, reviews based on big-data (meta)-analyses, research opinions, and short communications—ranging from specific case studies to works at regional, (inter)national, and global level—that will contribute to the elucidation and better management of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and its implications for agriculture, are welcome.
Prof. Dr. Gabrijel Ondrasek
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 papers will be 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. Agronomy 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 1800 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
- Lockdown
- COVID-19
- Agriculture
- Agroecosystems
- Food production
- Organic farming
- Labor shortage
- Meta analyses
- Big data analyses
- Farm-to-table
- E-market
- Crisis agro-management
- E-gardening
- Agrochemicals
- Food security
- Food safety
- Smart agriculture
- ICT
- Innovations
- Precision agriculture
- IoT
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural food production among smallholder farmers in Northern Drakensberg areas of Bergville and Winterton, South Africa
Authors: Bonginkosi E. Mthembu; Xolile Mkhize; Georgina D. Arthur
Affiliation:Department of Community Extension, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa;Department of Nature Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa .
Abstract: It is paramount to establish resilience of small-scale farmers amid disaster to sustain staple food production, a pillar of food security. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected social and economic activities in the agriculture systems. The extent of the pandemic disruptions on agriculture food production systems is lamentably scanty in developing countries. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on rural farming and food systems, comprising crop-livestock production. The research study was conducted among smallholder farmers in Northern Drakensberg areas of Bergville and Winterton, which are strategic areas for food security in KwaZulu-Natal province. Drakensberg foothills are the largest staple agriculture food (crops: maize and legumes and livestock: cattle) producing areas. A survey was conducted using structured questionnaires that measured impact of COVID-19 within farming operations and average yield trends during pre-COVID-19 cycle and during current two-year cycle (2020/21) of the pandemic. Purposive sampling was used since farmers are part of the agricultural advisory support programme within this study area. Data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software program (SPSS).