Special Issue "Competitiveness of Spanish Local Breeds"
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal science; agricultural and food safety economics; animal health; agribusiness economics; agricultural economics; dairy management; biostatistics; dairy; animal production.
Interests: animal production; animal health; animal feed; milk; dairy products; sustainability.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Spain is among the countries with the greatest diversity of local breeds, as a result of an extensive and heterogeneous cultural and agroecological heritage. The advancement of industrial farming, more focused on cost efficiency and food production for globalized markets, has progressively reduced the utility of local breeds. The loss of competitiveness of traditional farming systems linked to local breeds, and factors such as depopulation of rural areas, have expanded the list of local breeds at risk of extinction.
However, Spanish local breeds provide multiple transferable models to other environments on how to generate and make use of competitive advantages based on consumer preferences, interests of society or attributes of the farming system, among others. In this sense, there are many related factors, including food safety, the circular economy, mitigation of environmental impacts and adaptation to climate change, animal welfare, higher quality, and sensory acceptance by consumers, with differentiation through market-oriented labelling statements. In fact, Spain is among the countries with the highest volume of production of differentiated quality schemes such as Organic Farming, Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) or Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).
In addition, the paths to improve efficiency and production costs without damaging quality and promoting farm sustainability are challenges that must be addressed if the survival of local breeds is to be achieved.
This Special Issue offers a platform for the dissemination of research findings on issues related to the competitiveness of Spanish local breeds, focused on their transferability to other production environments and/or their practical application on commercial farms.
Prof. Dr. José Perea
Dr. Ramón Arias
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 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. Animals 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
- animal welfare
- biodiversity
- circular economy
- competitiveness
- conservation
- dairy
- efficiency
- eggs
- GHG reduction
- grazing systems
- local breeds
- low-input systems
- meat
- organic production
- Spanish autochthonous breeds
- sustainability
- wool and fibber
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.
Antonio Alvarez, Beatriz García-Cornejo, José A. Pérez-Méndez and David Roibás
Value creating strategies in dairy farm entrepreneurship
José Ramiro González-Montaña
Effect of maximal stress and exercise on biological variables in Lidia Cattle
Juan García-Casco
Use of by-products from the olive industry in feeding Iberian pigs during growth prior to the fattening period with acorns and pastures
María Dolores Soler, Achille Schiavone, Carlos Garcés-Narro
Consumer perception of products from local Spanish poultry breeds