CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION SCENARIO: PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE

Recently, Budapest (Hungary) has been the scenario of the of an important event organised by theHungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, in close cooperation with the European Commission, theStanding Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR), and the BIOEAST Initiative (project in which NPPC-VUZVLuzianky is active member), titled "PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE: BIOEAST and Beyond" high-level conferenceon Central and Eastern European Research and Innovation Priorities in the context of Sustainable Soil andFreshwater Resilience, Food Systems Security, and Bioeconomy-Related Policies (https://bioeast.eu/events-cal/partnering-for-the-future-bioeast-and-beyond/).The high-level conference marked a series of events during the six-months of the Hungarian Presidencywhich aimed to familiarize, debate, and promote a new pan-European research and innovation initiative witha geographic focus on Central and Eastern Europe, including the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnershipcountries. The discussions during the conference focused on two thematic nexuses as established in theStakeholder Manifesto published in June 2024:1. Carbon-water cycles: The linkage between healthy soils and freshwater resilience.2. Nutrition-energy cycles: Food system security and locally valorized biomass and biowaste in the bioeconomy.The conference gathered ministers and EU institutions' representatives, SCAR and research programcommittee representatives of the Member States, policymakers from ministries including EU candidate countries,academia, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and key private sector representativeswith priorities in the macro-region. Additional details can be found here: https://hungarian-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/bioeast-and-beyond-partnering-for-the-future-high-level-conference/In the fourth Editorial article of 2024, I am going to introduce the contents of the articles collected andpublished in the fourth issue of 2024 year.Anza et al. explore the landscape of beekeeping practices, honey production trends and the associatedchallenges and opportunities within rural communities. They conclude that, while beekeepers face challengessuch as a shortage of bee forage, absconding and honeybee enemies, there are ample opportunities such asnumerous honeybee colonies, emphasis from the government and tourist attraction sites, all of which providea lucrative market opportunity to sell honey at a premium price. To ensure the beekeeping industry thrivesin the area and contributes to the growth and development of rural livelihoods, it is crucial to address thechallenges faced by beekeepers. Assefa et al. assessed and characterized the husbandry practice and morphology of the indigenousgoat population. Sex, age and agroecology had a significant influence on the body weight and morphologicalcharacteristics of goats. Promoting alternative forage development strategies, improved forages and efficientfeed utilization and conservation options are important to alleviate feed shortage and enhance drought resilience capacity. In addition, designing and implementing of community-based genetic improvement program through within-breed selection could improve the productivity of indigenous goats.Iyanda et al. investigated the effect of processed bovine blood rumen digesta mixture (BBRDM) as partialreplacement for soyabeans on performance of broiler chickens. In conclusion, partial substitution of soya beansmeal with 60 % BBRDM in the diet is recommended for broiler chicken production for enhanced growth, betterblood function, health status as well as carcass yield with probable reduction in the production cost.Odetola et al. performed a multi-stage sampling technique in selecting Laying Hen Farmers (LHF) inrelation with production challenges. Educational status, flock size, access to livestock insurance and access tocredit significantly increased the total factor productivity (TFP), while farming experience, feed quantity, hiredlabour and extension access reduced TFP. The probit results show that age, household size, education, accessto resources and insurance significantly affect production risks.Editorial Team looks forward to evaluating your submitted contributions and providing all necessarysupport to Authors in order to best serve animal science and the scientific community, with commitmentto research integrity and the highest publishing ethics.Enjoy the reading!