Abstract
Pig and poultry production systems have reached high-performance levels over the last few decades. However, there is still room for improvement when it comes to their environmental sustainability. This issue is even more relevant due to the growing demand for food demand since this surplus food production needs to be met at an affordable cost with minimum impact on the environment. This study presents a systematic review of peer-reviewed manuscripts that investigated the environmental impacts associated with pig and poultry production. For this purpose, independent reviews were performed and two databases were constructed, one for each production system. Previous studies published in peer-reviewed journals were considered for the databases if the method of life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to pig (pork meat) or poultry (broiler meat or table eggs) production to estimate at least the potential effects of climate change, measured as CO2-eq. Studies considering the cradle-to-farm gate were considered, as well as those evaluating processes up to the slaughterhouse or processor gate. The pig database comprised 55 studies, while 30 publications were selected for the poultry database. These studies confirmed feeding (which includes the crop cultivation phase, manufacturing processes, and transportation) as the main contributor to the environmental impact associated with pig and poultry production systems. Several studies evaluated feeding strategies, which were indicated as viable alternatives to mitigate the environmental footprint associated with both production chains. In this study, precision feeding techniques are highlighted given their applicability to modern pig and poultry farming. These novel feeding strategies are good examples of innovative strategies needed to break paradigms, improve resource-use efficiency, and effectively move the current productive scenario toward more sustainable livestock systems.
Highlights
The increasing demand for food is an important challenge that society will face in the coming decades
The availability of peer-reviewed publications using life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of pig and poultry production systems has increased over the years (Figure 5)
The opposite was found in this systematic review, probably due to the higher risk and concern with the environmental impacts of pig production compared to poultry systems
Summary
The increasing demand for food is an important challenge that society will face in the coming decades. The growing population will need more resources, leading to a relevant increase in food demand. Environmentally sustainable agri-food systems are mandatory requirements for a world with increasing urbanization and growing food demands. In this context, the benefits of agri-food sectors for society need to be maximized [1], which can be achieved by improving the efficiency in which the resources are applied in the production chains. The current production methods will need to adapt to these new challenges (limited resources, increased production), with most surplus food production being supplied by innovative agri-food systems [2]
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