Livestock farming systems are playing a very important role at world level, with an estimated contribution of around 40% of the total global value of agriculture product (FAO Citation2009). The lives of more than one billion poor people are nowadays strictly dependent on livestock. In addition, livestock animals represent other indirect benefits both in developing and in developed countries. The recent international Expo held in Milan during 2015, named “Feeding the planet”, has clearly highlighted the future challenges for the livestock sector over the next decades. Together with the necessity to produce more animal products to satisfy the impressive increasing demand of a human population growing with a strong acceleration, there are also challenges connected with some negative impacts of livestock farming including intensive and extensive systems, such as the environmental impacts, the food safety, the animal welfare and other social issues.
Animal scientists are now requested, more than in the past, to put a great effort towards finding solutions for feeding the world, in a contest of new climatic scenarios and social-economic and political constraints. The single sectors of animal sciences must strongly interact together, e.g. animal nutrition and genetics, and with other scientific components, such as engineering, microbiology, nanotechnology, biomedicine, veterinary, and biotechnology. From biotechnologies, in particular, we could have additional solutions, both for feeding animals in a more efficient way, using feeds not competitive with humans, and to improve the productive capacity of farm animals in a sustainable way. Research and innovation, in an integrated approach, will contribute to further development of the livestock sector, to make it more competitive and efficient along the food chain.
The mission of “Italian Journal of Animal Science – IJAS” will be devoted to host the products of excellent science from all around the world, to stimulate young scientists to deal with emerging problems in the livestock sector, utilising modern scientific methods and networks, and to give concrete contribution for a better society.
The partnership with Taylor & Francis is considered an important element to reach the objectives to which ASPA, our Scientific Association, owner of IJAS, tends in order to obtain an increasingly more relevant international position in the field of Animal Sciences.
President of ASPARosanna Scipioni
IJAS Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
Reference
- FAO. 2009. The state of food and agriculture. Livestock in the balance. Roma, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Eds., Roma, Italy. ISBN 978-92-5-106215-9.