The main aim of the animal production is to produce animal proteins of high value in a sustainable manner. However, sustainability is not easy to define. It is a complex phenomenon, which includes integration of economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the certain production, within a given socio-economic context. In this respect, poultry production meets first two dimensions - it provides affordable dietary item for consumers and profit for producers. It additionally generates up and downstream investment opportunities and it contributes to the development of the local economy. However, with the concentration of poultry production and increase in operation size, considerable environmental problems have occurred. During the last several decades, the environmental impact of the poultry production has received an ever-growing attention. Nowadays, producers are under heavy pressure, from different fronts, to minimize the impact of their production on the environment and to adopt welfare friendly practices. The major challenges, which will affect animal production in the future, will likely deal with the environment. In this paper, the environmental impact of poultry production and the differences in this respect between the different production systems are presented.

The economic and political crisis Serbia had to face during the nineties affected the competitive advantages its agricultural sector had in comparison with the other countries of the region. Despite a number of differences related to the specific economic, political and social settings and developments, the reform path Serbia started in 2000 showed a number of similarities, but also some differences in comparison with most of the Central and Eastern European Countries. In this paper the main features of structural changes in the Serbian agricultural sector are analyzed, also in comparison with other countries in the region, the basic factors that contributed to these changes are identified and explained, and the key consequences and implications of this process are examined.

Poultry production is an important livestock sector in Serbia. It accounts for about 12% of the total value of country's livestock production. Providing relatively cheap food of high quality it is nowadays of particular importance due to economic transition problems and the consequent economic crisis that the country has faced since the beginning of the 1990s. However, despite the sector's importance, poultry production has actually had no institutional support for many years, and the poultry population, as well as broiler meat and table eggs production, has significantly declined over the last two decades. The sector is characterized by insufficient level of concentration, specialization, vertical integration and efficiency. It is estimated that small-scale farms and backyard poultry production in Serbia account for more than half of poultry meat production and two thirds of egg production, with a significant seasonal impact on local markets. The following paper gives an overview of both commercial and small-scale poultry production in Serbia and examine the major economic constrains to and opportunities for poultry sector improvement needed in view of Serbia's prospective EU integration.