No question remains regarding our need to change toward sustainable agriculture. When ranking the industries that have more prevalent environmental impacts, agriculture holds a considerable share of responsibility. However, as sustainability is an ambiguous concept surrounded by controversy and debate, rather than attempt to describe its meaning through a single universal definition, we instead stressed the need to delineate a set of fundamental principles. With the goal of putting the sustainable-agriculture concept into practice, an inductive qualitative content analysis was employed based on multivariate methods on hundreds of different definitions, theories, notions and sustainability indicators gathered through a deep-structured literature review. Through this novel approach, we were able to identify four fundamental principles for sustainable agriculture (integrated management, dynamic balance, regenerative design, and social development), and concluded that in order to shift our current agricultural systems into more efficient and sustainable ones, we need to start making better use of natural and human resources. This work provides guidelines for reference that can be used by anyone whenever they make a decision regarding sustainable agriculture or apply a methodology to assess a particular behavior, process or situation.

This article addresses the issue of food waste, highlighting its implications for food security, sustainability, and global resource management. The main objective is to develop the principles for an Integrated Sustainable Food Waste Reduction System (IFWRS), a theoretical and practical framework that unites public policies, consumer behavior, and technological innovation. To achieve this goal, the study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis to identify critical gaps, synthesize existing knowledge, and provide a solid foundation for the proposed IFWRS principles. These principles present actionable strategies to combat food waste through a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, overcoming fragmented methodologies and aligning with sustainability goals at both local and global levels. This work makes a fundamental contribution to the field, providing not only a robust theoretical foundation but also a practical guide for implementing innovative and sustainable solutions across the food chain. By integrating various sectors and promoting a unified vision, the IFWRS principles pave the way for more effective policies and interventions that can transform the global food waste landscape. With its unique and groundbreaking approach, this study offers a revolutionary perspective to solve one of the world’s greatest challenges, driving collective action and the adoption of sustainable, transformative strategies.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent and complex problem worldwide, exacerbated by the frequently inappropriate use of antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to survey the levels of knowledge and awareness about antibiotic use and stewardship, among human and veterinary health professionals or students in Portugal, and the associations between antibiotic knowledge factors and socio-professional groups. In cross-sectional survey design, a total of 449 online structured questionnaires were completed in 2018–2019. The statistical analysis was performed dividing the respondents into four groups, A (undergraduate students), B (PhD students and researchers), C (lecturers), and D (technicians and other occupation). Among all respondents, 17% (n = 75) revealed some gap in knowledge about antibiotic resistance and the antibiotics that should be administered for different infection types (bacterial, viral, or fungal). Of the 159 pet owners among the respondents, only half had administered antibiotics to their animal and 64% (n = 102) knew that veterinary prescription is mandatory when administering antibiotics to animals. All groups statistically agreed that the AMR is a major public health problem and the antibiotics should be administrated for bacterial infections and used until the whole pack has been finished (p = 0.00). As expected, only groups B and C demonstrated a higher level of knowledge to recognize the antibiotic name and their active ingredient than undergraduate students (p = 0.00). About the antibiotic use on pets, only group B was statistically significant to no used antibiotics on their pets (p = 0.00). However, groups A, C, and D were statistically significant for the knowledge about the mandatory veterinarian prescription and groups C and D were significantly statistics for fully aware of the transmission of bacteria between animals and humans. In conclusion, in matters related to AMR, the behavior, education, and training of the general public and health professionals, including those who prescribe antibiotics for humans and animals, need to be improved.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate and analyse the technical efficiency (TE) component of productivity for a sample of winegrowers from the Douro Demarcated Region in Portugal.Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected through face-to-face surveys and includes a sample of 110 farmers’ vineyards with specific input-output information and other data about production systems during the year of 2017. The authors use a two-stage data envelopment analysis using bootstrap techniques to obtain TE scores in the farmers’ vineyards and to examine the determinants of its efficiency.Findings: The results show that some farmers’ vineyards have a low efficiency level and that there are essential determinants of the production system, which can influence its efficiency. This suggests considerable opportunities for improvement of wine grape productivity through better use of available resources considering the state of technology.Originality/value: This work has overcome the lack of data in the farmers’ vineyards, the lack of efficiency studies in the region and also allowed to evaluate the production systems and to assess their impact on efficiency.