Sustainable development as a concept, is extremely important both at national and international levels. To achieve the goals of sustainable development, international cooperation among countries is of vital importance because no one nation can accomplish these goals independently. In order to implement the sustainable development strategy, first discussed in 1992 at the UN Conference of Environment and Development, the indicators of sustainable development first had to be defined. Considering that the first set of indicators was defined by the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), they were entitled CSD indicators. The smaller set of CSD indicators in the European Union countries (EU-28) is observed in this study. These indicators cover three aspects of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. The goal of this study is to rank EU countries according to the level that they were able to achieve the objectives of their respective sustainable development strategies individually, according to the 2013 database. The appropriate statistical I-distance method was used for this purpose. In the first step, the significant indicators are distinguished and ranked according to the quantity and importance of the information they provide for specific research. Subsequently, this method then converts the indicators into a single measure that reflects the level at which each country has achieved the goal.

The term sustainable development is used in many areas and spheres of life and is becoming a modern phenomenon determining the direction of progress of every society. Sustainable development implies continuous economic development with respect to environmental principles and focuses on overcoming conflicts between economy and ecology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate sustainable development management in EU countries through selected indicators characterizing sustainable development and its core dimensions. We present the results of an evaluation of the sustainable development of EU countries using cluster analysis. Countries that are similar in terms of sustainability are identified by cluster analysis. Four clusters were separated, the affiliation of each country to a particular cluster was determined, and the characteristics of each cluster were defined. The goal of sustainability management is to create an adequate approach to development of the economic and environmental performance, and therefore achieve sustainability. The achievements of most developed countries should be an incentive for those that are at a lower level of development. In addition, this research provides insight into some specific goals of sustainable development where some countries are lagging behind. This could be the basis for directing efforts in specific areas of sustainable development to improve their own position in such an important global issue.

Production and processing of milk represents a very important sector of the agricultural industry of Montenegro. Milk production is performed primarily on family farms, from which a small percentage is further placed in processing facilities. In addition to favourable conditions for cattle rearing and milk production, production results are modest. ARIMA model was applied in order to forecast the quantities of cow's milk that will be collected and processed in 2019 into fermented dairy products and drinking milk. The observed and obtained data show the presence of seasonal and trend component in time series. Furthermore, the analysis highlighted the importance of milk processing on family farms, in addition to the need for investment in its improvement. The paper also analyzes investment support referring to the milk processing facilities in Montenegro.

Purpose: Strengthening awareness and education to address food safety problem is of importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate food safety knowledge and opinion among Serbian students and the efficiency of education on their self-reported behaviour as consumers.Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire on the attitudes and self-reported behaviour of students was completed by 414 students at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Serbia. The questions covered hand hygiene; cross-contamination; conditions of food cooling; and knowledge of risky food. Students were divided into two groups: students in their first and second year of study (1–2 YoS) who had not attended any subjects related to food safety during their education; students in the third and fourth years of the Food Technology Program (3–4 YoS) who had completed one or more courses concerning food safety during their education.Findings: Overall, there were significant differences in the opinions of 1–2 YoS students and 3–4 YoS students on most issues. It was noted that male students are at higher risk when it comes to food handling. Considering the significant impact of education as evidenced by the opinions of 3–4 YoS students, it can be concluded that education is effective in raising awareness and changing behaviour among young people.Originality/value: The study identified how education affects students' opinion and food handling. Moreover, it highlighted the areas of deficiency in students' food safety behaviour, knowledge and attitudes. Limited research has been conducted on food safety knowledge among students.

Considering the importance of maize in the Republic of Serbia, the aim of the paper is to select an appropriate econometric model that describes and predicts the future trends of maize production in the Republic of Serbia. In order to forecast the future trends of maize production from 2023 to 2027, a time series of annual data from 1990 to 2022 was analyzed using the autoregressive integrated moving average model. The model shows that maize production in 2023 will be 49.34% higher than in 2022. According to the forecast, the growth trend in maize production will continue until 2025, after which a decline in production is predicted. This paper also found that the autoregressive integrated moving average model for the selected time series of maize production provides approximate and more reliable forecast results than the extrapolation of the average annual rate of change.

In the paper analyzes the trends in the development of market production of fruit (on the example of the apple and the plum) and grapes in Serbia from 1976 to 2015. The grouping of the Serbian districts according to the degree of the market production of fruit and grapes in 2015 was performed by a cluster analysis, on the basis of the six features of production, five features of the capacities, and five features of development. According to the data for 2015, the degree of the marketability of apples in Serbia was 47.7%, plums 15.9%, and grapes 18.3%. The Serbia-North Region shows a surplus in the production of apples, and a deficit in the production of plums (-181.7%) and grapes (-99.1%). The Serbia-South Region has a surplus in the production of the analyzed kinds of fruit (the apple accounting for 43.0%, and the plum 50.9%) and grapes (45.2%).