Feeding Strategies to Improve Sustainability and Welfare in Animal Production

Dear Colleagues,

The most accredited FAO statistics predict that in thirty years the world's population will have reached 9 billion people. In order to satisfy the nutritional needs of humans, the demand for raw materials, especially protein sources will increase. It has been estimated that by 2050, the production of meat will increase by 50%, while the demand for fish, milk, and eggs will grow by 75%. An increase of animal products requires an increase of farmed animals and this will be accompanied by a significant intensification in livestock farming (higher animal densities and production units, more concentrated feed, pharmaceuticals, and vaccinations, etc.). A large number of animals, farmed in relatively small areas, results in the deposition of large amounts of excreta containing nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter, and faecal microbes in the water, with a consequent contamination of water systems globally, such as surface water eutrophication and groundwater nitrate enrichment. Thus, the livestock sector is an important user of natural resources and has a great influence on the air, soil and water quality, global climate, and biodiversity maintenance. Our research can propose innovative ideas to control the environmental damage through the management of animal nutrition. At the same time, the perception of animals as sentient beings capable of feeling emotions, like joy and pain, will increase more and more in the future. Thus, it will be increasingly important to adopt nutritional strategies and breeding techniques capable of increasing animal welfare and at the same time reducing the use of pharmacological treatments in full respect of the environment, animal health and food safety.

We invite researchers to send original papers addressed to methods for improving the sustainability of animal production (i.e. ruminant, pig, poultry, fish, rabbit, etc.), taking into account animal welfare. We will appreciate it if appropriate nutritional strategies including sustainable ingredients, natural molecules and specific feeding techniques are proposed.

An additional topic includes testing the efficacy of nutritional strategies using innovative laboratory analysis and the effects of these strategies on the quality of animal products.

Prof. Fulvia Bovera
Prof. Giovanni Piccolo
Collection Editors

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