IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i8p4698-d793781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Added Value of Local Sheep Breeds in Alpine Agroecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Teston

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Matteo Orsi

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Giovanni Bittante

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Alessio Cecchinato

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Luigi Gallo

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Paola Gatto

    (Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Lucio Flavio Macedo Mota

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Maurizio Ramanzin

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Salvatore Raniolo

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

  • Antonella Tormen

    (Centro Consorzi, Via del Boscon, 430, 32100 Belluno, BL, Italy)

  • Enrico Sturaro

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy)

Abstract

This study is part of a project (Sheep Al.L. Chain, RDP Veneto Region) aiming to improve the competitiveness of local sheep breed farms through valorization of their links with mountain agroecosystems. We considered two local sheep breeds of the eastern Italian Alps, “Alpagota” and “Lamon”, which have a population of 400 and 3000 heads, respectively, and are used to produce lambs for typical products. A total of 35 farms (17 for Alpagota, with a total of 1652 heads; 18 for Lamon, with a total of 337 heads) were surveyed to collect data on farm organization, flock structure and management (farm questionnaire), land use management (GIS approach), and value chain organization (participatory processes). The link between the two local sheep breeds and mountain agroecosystems is very strong: land use is characterized by a large number of small patches of grasslands in marginal areas. Moving from the results of this study, a set of strategies aiming at improving the competitiveness of these systems have been proposed. Communication to the consumers and to the relevant stakeholders of the added value of local sheep breeds in marginal mountain agroecosystems can contribute to favor the resilience of small ruminant farms and the conservation of Alpine sheep breeds.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Teston & Matteo Orsi & Giovanni Bittante & Alessio Cecchinato & Luigi Gallo & Paola Gatto & Lucio Flavio Macedo Mota & Maurizio Ramanzin & Salvatore Raniolo & Antonella Tormen & Enrico Sturaro, 2022. "Added Value of Local Sheep Breeds in Alpine Agroecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4698-:d:793781
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4698/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4698/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    2. Bertaglia, Marco & Joost, Stephane & Roosen, Jutta, 2007. "Identifying European marginal areas in the context of local sheep and goat breeds conservation: A geographic information system approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 657-670, June.
    3. Dray, Stéphane & Dufour, Anne-Béatrice, 2007. "The ade4 Package: Implementing the Duality Diagram for Ecologists," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 22(i04).
    4. Luis Javier R. Barron & Aitor Andonegi & Gonzalo Gamboa & Eneko Garmendia & Oihana García & Noelia Aldai & Arantza Aldezabal, 2021. "Sustainability Assessment of Pasture-Based Dairy Sheep Systems: A Multidisciplinary and Multiscale Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Sil, Ângelo & Fernandes, Paulo M. & Rodrigues, Ana Paula & Alonso, Joaquim M. & Honrado, João P. & Perera, Ajith & Azevedo, João C., 2019. "Farmland abandonment decreases the fire regulation capacity and the fire protection ecosystem service in mountain landscapes," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Rodríguez-Ortega, T. & Olaizola, A.M. & Bernués, A., 2018. "A novel management-based system of payments for ecosystem services for targeted agri-environmental policy," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(PA), pages 74-84.
    7. Schirpke, Uta & Scolozzi, Rocco & Dean, Graeme & Haller, Andreas & Jäger, Hieronymus & Kister, Jutta & Kovács, Barbara & Sarmiento, Fausto O. & Sattler, Birgit & Schleyer, Christian, 2020. "Cultural ecosystem services in mountain regions: Conceptualising conflicts among users and limitations of use," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    8. Anna Sidiropoulou & Maria Karatassiou & Georgia Galidaki & Paraskevi Sklavou, 2015. "Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Transhumance Abandonment on Mountain Vermio (North Greece)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-22, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Julia Stauder & Harald Meimberg & Monika Kriechbaum, 2023. "An Exploration of Drivers for Abandonment or Continuation of Summer Pasture Grazing in South Tyrol, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mónica de Castro-Pardo & João C. Azevedo, 2021. "A Goal Programming Model to Guide Decision-Making Processes towards Conservation Consensuses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Mónica de Castro-Pardo & Fernando Pérez-Rodríguez & José María Martín-Martín & João C. Azevedo, 2019. "Planning for Democracy in Protected Rural Areas: Application of a Voting Method in a Spanish-Portuguese Reserve," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Wenzel Kröber & Martin Böhnke & Erik Welk & Christian Wirth & Helge Bruelheide, 2012. "Leaf Trait-Environment Relationships in a Subtropical Broadleaved Forest in South-East China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-11, April.
    4. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.
    5. Johan Swinnen & Alessandro Olper & Senne Vandevelde, 2021. "From unfair prices to unfair trading practices: Political economy, value chains and 21st century agri‐food policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(5), pages 771-788, September.
    6. Pengfei Song & Wen Qin & YanGan Huang & Lei Wang & Zhenyuan Cai & Tongzuo Zhang, 2020. "Grazing Management Influences Gut Microbial Diversity of Livestock in the Same Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-12, May.
    7. la Grange, Anthony & le Roux, Niël & Gardner-Lubbe, Sugnet, 2009. "BiplotGUI: Interactive Biplots in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i12).
    8. Jonas Eberle & Renier Myburgh & Dirk Ahrens, 2014. "The Evolution of Morphospace in Phytophagous Scarab Chafers: No Competition - No Divergence?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-16, May.
    9. Liesbeth François & Katrien Wijnrocx & Frédéric G Colinet & Nicolas Gengler & Bettine Hulsegge & Jack J Windig & Nadine Buys & Steven Janssens, 2017. "Genomics of a revived breed: Case study of the Belgian campine cattle," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, April.
    10. Daniele, Bertolozzi-Caredio & Barbara, Soriano & Isabel, Bardaji & Alberto, Garrido, 2022. "Analysis of perceived robustness, adaptability and transformability of Spanish extensive livestock farms under alternative challenging scenarios," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    11. Chiara Mazzocchi & Guido Sali, 2022. "Supporting mountain agriculture through “mountain product” label: a choice experiment approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 701-723, January.
    12. Anna Lungarska & Thierry Brunelle & Raja Chakir & Pierre‐Alain Jayet & Rémi Prudhomme & Stéphane De Cara & Jean‐Christophe Bureau, 2023. "Halving mineral nitrogen use in European agriculture: Insights from multi‐scale land‐use models," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1529-1550, September.
    13. Iliriana Miftari & Rainer Haas & Oliver Meixner & Drini Imami & Ekrem Gjokaj, 2022. "Factors Influencing Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Products in a Transition Economy—Insights from Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    14. Maurer, Rainer, 2023. "Comparing the effect of different agricultural land-use systems on biodiversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Anna Sidiropoulou & Dimitrios Chouvardas & Konstantinos Mantzanas & Stefanos Stefanidis & Maria Karatassiou, 2022. "Impact of Transhumant Livestock Grazing Abandonment on Pseudo-Alpine Grasslands in Greece in the Context of Climatic Change," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, November.
    16. Koen Deconinck & Marion Jansen & Carla Barisone, 2023. "Fast and furious: the rise of environmental impact reporting in food systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1310-1337.
    17. Weerahewa, Jeevika & Dayananda, Dasuni, 2023. "Land use changes and economic effects of alternative fertilizer policies: A simulation analysis with a bio-economic model for a Tank Village of Sri Lanka," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    18. Diogenis A. Kiziridis & Anna Mastrogianni & Magdalini Pleniou & Elpida Karadimou & Spyros Tsiftsis & Fotios Xystrakis & Ioannis Tsiripidis, 2022. "Acceleration and Relocation of Abandonment in a Mediterranean Mountainous Landscape: Drivers, Consequences, and Management Implications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, March.
    19. Debuschewitz, Emil & Sanders, Jürn, 2021. "Bewertung der Umweltwirkungen des ökologischen Landbaus im Kontext der kontroversen wissenschaftlichen Diskurse," 61st Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, September 22-24, 2021 317076, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    20. García-Ruiz, J.M. & Lasanta, T. & Nadal-Romero, E. & Lana-Renault, N. & Álvarez-Farizo, B., 2020. "Rewilding and restoring cultural landscapes in Mediterranean mountains: Opportunities and challenges," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4698-:d:793781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.