Luis Jesús Belmonte

• PhD
• Professor at University of Almería

This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the sustainability of the agri-food sector within the member states of the European Union (EU), addressing its environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The findings indicate moderate overall levels of sustainability in the EU agri-food sector, accompanied by notable disparities among the memb...

This investigation explores the dynamic relationship between sustainable technological innovation (STI) and business competitiveness, a topic that has seen substantial scholarly interest over recent decades. The study highlights how STI significantly influences various business practices, including environmental management, sustainability, transpar...

Citation: Castillo-Díaz F.J., Belmonte-Ureña L.J., Diánez-Martínez F., Camacho-Ferre F. (2025): The role of primary producers in agricultural waste management: Perceptions and challenges in the transition to a circular economy. Agric. Econ.-Czech. Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the perceptions of Spanish primary producers on waste management...

Research background: Inadequate management of agricultural waste in Spain is a growing challenge that poses significant risks to the environmental sustainability of ecosystems, due to the lack of detailed information on how socioeconomic factors influence the management of such waste. The importance of addressing this issue is reflected in various...

Research background: Circular economy is promoted as a sustainable and efficient economic model in all industries. In the European agricultural sector, and particularly in greenhouse horticulture, its implementation presents both substantial opportunities and significant challenges that must be addressed effectively. The European Union's Common Agr...

This study delves into the strategic intersection of sustainability practices, relational marketing, and firm attitudes in the agricultural sector, emphasizing the imperative of balancing economic viability with environmental responsibility. As global concerns over climate change, resource depletion, and ethical sourcing escalate, the agricultural...

This study explores the integration of sustainable technological innovation (STI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the Spanish agricultural sector, aiming to enhance competitiveness and sustainability. Departing from previous research that often underrepresents the unique dynamics of this sector, our analysis employs both theoretica...

The purpose of accounting ethics is to ensure honest and transparent financial information for sustainable decision making. Recent accounting scandals have resulted in regulatory changes to limit the influence of lobbies on regulators and the accounting profession. This study aims to examine the link between accounting ethics and sustainable decisi...

This study features a comprehensive analysis of the status of the circular economy (CE) in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) and focuses on the CE composite indicator and its specific sub-indicators. The results reveal overall improvements in the implementation of the CE in the period of 2012-2021, although there are significant varia...

Assessing the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of food production is imperative for aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and adhering to evolving regulatory and strategic frameworks. The absence of a standardized methodology for quantifying sustainability in the agri-food system value chain nec...

Agriculture and livestock farming are activities that depend on energy consumption. Photovoltaic self-consumption systems can reduce the production costs of these actors, especially in periods of high-energy price volatility. This work aimed to determine the degree of implementation of photovoltaic self-consumption systems, their relationship with...

The current Common Agricultural Policy encourages the expansion of agri-food sustainability to implement sustainable development in primary production. It is, therefore, important to quantify the sustainability of agriculture and livestock farming in order to apply corrective measures. The objective of this work was to analyze the sustainability of...

The agri-business sector in Spain is facing increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices due to growing concerns about environmental degradation, social inequality, and food safety. In this chapter, we explore the role of stakeholders on the intention to implement sustainable practices within the agricultural companies in Spain and to investi...

Sustainability has become a central pillar in the socioeconomic development of societies. After signing the 2030 Agenda, numerous states reformulated their policies to comply with the Sustainable Development Goals. Recently, the European Union modified its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will be in effect from 2023 to 2027. The aim of this...

Agriculture is a strategic sector that has played a key role in developing many territories. However, the rapid expansion of productivity since the Green Revolution has led to aggressive agricultural practices, such as using large amounts of agrochemicals, which have damaged ecosystems. The latest policy on agriculture drafted by European Union env...

Research background: Although agricultural competitiveness is not a new topic, it is worth noting that it has recently come back to the attention of researchers due to various factors such as climate change, food security, price uncertainty, or structural transformation. Consequently, a growing number of articles have emerged on this subject, leadi...

Food security depends on the implementation of sustainable development in agri-food. It is essential to determine the sustainability of the main production systems in order to establish specific measures for each territory, by virtue of correcting their negative externalities and improving the commitment of stakeholders. Therefore, this article ass...

For more than a decade, circular economy (CE) has been presented as a sustainable economic development model through actions focused on the revalorization and limitation of resource consumption that reduce environmental pollution. Even further, CE offers a regenerative framework encouraging the incorporation of innovations that facilitate the redes...

Modern society is currently facing a context in which the growing global demand for fruit and vegetables is calling for advances in production systems to accelerate the rate of production and thus, respond to current food needs. In recent years, there has been a notable advance towards green and sustainable technology, which contributes, among othe...

The environmental impact caused by the ever-more extended use of plastics has resulted in the serious pollution of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, thus becoming an issue of global concern. In this context, and in order to fight against micro and nanoplastics for being considered as some of the most relevant polluters, the European Union is regul...

Agricultural systems must identify fertilization strategies in line with the principles of sustainable development and the circular economy to achieve environmentally friendly food production and to meet the fertilizer-reduction targets set by some territories, such as the European Union (EU). The objective of this work was to identify the multifun...

Quantifying the sustainability of the agriculture, livestock, and agri-food industry under a homogeneous criterion is essential to strategize the implementation of sustainable development in the agri-food sector and increase the commitment of stakeholders using aids to reduce the socio-economic impact of the expansion of sustainability. In order to...

Sustainable development has become an essential criterion for structural policies ofthe European Union, and these policies have extended its environmental dimensions.The EU has decided that circular economy will be framed within the principles of sus-tainable development. Thus, the changes brought forth will affect activities like agri-culture, whe...

El libro Nuevas perspectivas en Educación, Innovación y TIC" brinda una nueva mirada, mostrándonos la importancia de la innovación y las TIC, así como su papel crucial en el necesario cambio de la sociedad y el ámbito empresarial. La transformación digital de la educación no es solo una cuestión de incorporar tecnologías avanzadas en las aulas, sin...

Customers, civil organizations, the media, and society demand that companies behave in ways beyond regulatory requirements concerning social and environmental issues. Therefore, companies are striving to adapt to these new requirements and to express their commitment to stakeholders through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. The...

Sustainable and circular production models, such as the circular economy and circular bioeconomy, have become key mechanisms to leave behind the traditional linear model of food production. Under this approach and considering the waste biomass potential available in Spain and the Czech Republic, the main objective of this study is to analyse the mo...

Background The agricultural and construction sectors demand enormous amounts of natural resources and generate environmental impacts that negatively affect ecosystems. One of the main problems is the generation and inadequate management of waste. For this reason, under the approaches of the new sustainable and circular models, waste valorization ha...

"Between 2019–2021, you published an open access article with Elsevier, receiving a total of 34,475 downloads. Your article was linked to the UN SDGs, helping to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges"

Spain is one of the main fruit and vegetable export centers, as it allocates more than 80% of its total production to foreign trade. In recent years, the stable demand for fruit and vegetables has been affected by the incorporation of third countries outside the European Union, which compete by marketing the same portfolio of products. This situati...

Background Waste disposal is an activity that pollutes the environment. The European Union has developed different legislative measures which are based on the circular economy (CE) to avoid this negative externality. The management of agricultural packaging (fertilizers and phytosanitary products) is carried out through Collective Deposit, Return,...

Background: The agricultural and construction sectors demand enormous amounts of natural resources and generate environmental impacts that negatively affect ecosystems. One of the main problems is the generation and inadequate management of waste. For this reason, under the approaches of the new sustainable and circular models, waste valorization h...

This study aims to conduct an exploratory and comparative analysis between Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organizations (FVPOs) and fruit and vegetable producers that are not part of these organizations (Non-FVPOs) regarding the prioritization, perception, and adoption of sustainable and circular practices. For this purpose, data was collected from b...

Policies and strategies that encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly practices in the agricultural sector also promote mechanisms that facilitate their implementation. One of them is the creation of Producer Organizations and the granting of subsidies to farmers. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the most relevant aspects of the mana...

Intensive agriculture has resulted in various environmental impacts that affect ecosystems. In some cases, the application of conventional fertilizers has deteriorated water quality, which includes the marine environment. For this reason, institutions have designed various strategies based on the principles of the circular economy and the bioeconom...

The scarcity of natural resources as well as the increase in waste and environmental pollution are considered current challenges that must be solved. In this context in which the search for processes that ensure an improvement of the current situation prevails, the term bioeconomy arises. Said term, which is based on renewable biological resources...

Agronomy 2020 Best Paper Awards. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy/awards/1400

In recent decades, ecosystems have suffered diverse environmental impacts caused by anthropogenic activities, including the dumping of plastic waste. This situation has prompted the European Union to introduce a new policy based on the circular economy. In this study, the present state and future perspectives on the generation and treatment of plas...

Greenhouse agriculture typically generates large amounts of waste with plant residue (agricultural biomass) being the most abundant. This residue is generated on a seasonal basis, which complicates the external management of the material. Recently, the European Union (EU) has been implementing a policy based on sustainability through the circular e...

Circular economy (CE) and sustainability are interrelated, without being exchangeable. While sustainability tries to reconcile the management of productive resources with their increasing consumption, CE aims to make the productive process more efficient, reducing, reusing and recycling the results of the productive process as much as possible. The...

The business fabric is trying to resolve the many transformations that have occurred in recent decades. Companies are obliged to offer new ways to meet the needs of the market. This situation has led to the creation of new business models that combine both competitiveness and sustainability. Among the most consistent strategies, the product-service...

Water pollution is a worldwide problem. Water consumption increases at a faster rate than population and this leads to a higher pollution rate. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) include proposals aimed at ensuring the availability of clean water and its sustainable management (Goal 6), as well as the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and...

Circular economy (CE) and sustainability are interrelated, without being exchangeable. While sustainability tries to reconcile the management of productive resources with their increasing consumption, CE aims to make the productive process more efficient, reducing, reusing and recycling the results of the productive process as much as possible. The...

En este capítulo pretendemos mostrar que las criptomonedas son una vía democrática de participación en la economía mundial de países emergentes siempre que existan marcos jurídicos estables. Aún así, blockchain soporta los mecanismos de confianza que muchos sistemas financieros, en estos países, no tienen. De hecho, dos mil millones de personas ope...

Using bibliometric techniques, we evaluate the contribution of current academic research to the advancement of sustainable development agenda as expressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets . We focus on four knowledge domains highly relevant to the ethos of sustainable development, each with a distinct approach, to finding a ba...

The joint application of bioeconomy (BE) and circular economy (CE) promotes the sustainable use of natural resources, since by applying a systemic approach, it improves the efficiency of these resources and reduces the impact on the environment. Both strategies, which belong to the area of green economy, provide a global and integrated approach tow...

Agriculture has played a strategic role in the process of economic growth and development in numerous countries, especially over the last five decades. However, the rapid growth of agricultural productivity has created a greater strain on natural resources, which has harmed the environment. One of the main problems with this intensive agriculture m...

One of the main characteristics of circular economy is that it is a restorative and regenerative economy, which means that any input within the production process must be restored. This implies reducing as many negative externalities as possible, thus avoiding scarcity in ecosystems. Circular economy stands as an alternative production and consumpt...

Circular economy (CE) pursues to contribute economic prosperity and to enhance sustainability. This model focuses on the reduction of pollution, the consumption of natural resources, and the revaluation of waste. The interest in the CE and the management of solid waste are linked with regulatory changes that have been developed in recent years, mai...

In South-east Spain the implementation of desalinated seawater for irrigation was planned as an alternative water supply for farmers. However, most high-volume desalination plants are underused as farmers' current demands are lower than was previously expected. In order to develop programmes promoting an effective behavioural shift of farmers towar...

The demand for innovative approaches applied to productive sectors is a reality present in the circular economy and open innovation is a relatively new concept that has revolutionized the literature about innovation management. Since the concept appeared in 2003, many articles have focused on its development and application. Although some studies h...

As members of society, companies are exposed to social changes and pressures. Hence, an interest to be more environmentally friendly appears and rises in their core. Therefore, the supply chain management concept became ʺgreenerʺ with the development, among other practices, of reverse logistics programs. Both external pressures and internal factors...

As of now, circular economic production models of the circular economy (CEPMs), which include circular economy, bioeconomy, and circular bioeconomy, are among the main tools characterizing development policies in different countries. During the last five years, policies and strategies regarding CEPMs have promoted and contributed to the development...

The concept of family economy in the context of extreme poverty is of interest when it comes to analyzing the strategies displayed to prevent or reduce the effects of this situation of exclusion. Gender roles in the nucleus of the family institution will indicate the distribution of these tasks, so that we can understand, in the case of the role of...

In recent years, the traditional horticultural crops in greenhouse on the Mediterranean coast as tomato have lost profitability. In this situation, a possible alternative is the production of tropical crops like Carica papaya. The plant growth in continental Europe presents the handicap of the low winter temperatures. When air temperature falls bel...

The transition from intensive conventional agriculture to sustainable agriculture has become a global priority. This is due to the need for environmentally friendly agriculture to ensure sufficient food for a rapidly growing population. The bioeconomy is essential to progress in the field of sustainable agriculture. It contributes to the conservati...

The challenge of transitioning from a linear to a circular economy model is still ongoing and requires the development and application of new knowledge, leading to innovative, technological, and sustainable processes, products, and services. The evolution of global research on this topic from 2004 to 2019 was studied in this work. For this purpose,...

En la generación de los nacidos en un entorno digital, los dispositivos se entienden como algo natural en la manera de obtener información instantánea. El sistema educativo se ha adaptado y ha desarrollado nuevos modelos pedagógicos, para aunar la docencia con las características intrínsecas de los estudiantes digitales. En este escenario, el apren...

Responsible higher education institutions have an impact on society and economic, environmental, and social development. These effects define the axes of the socially responsible management of the universities. The concept of university social responsibility (USR) manages these relationships to produce a positive impact on society through higher ed...

This research provides an analysis of existing scientific production on agricultural wastefrom 1931 to 2018. The database was obtained from Scopus and includes a total of 3148articles, which were analysed using the bibliometric method. This method focuses on theidentification, evolution, approaches and trends referred to in the use and transformati...

Few decades ago, the development of the industrial sector was disconnected from society's protection. Negative effects awareness emerges from the current industrial processes through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), considering the causal implications to build up a more sustainable society. The aim of this study is to analyze the state of...

For decades, non-renewable resources have been the basis of worldwide economic development. The extraction rate of natural resources has increased by 113% since 1990, which has led to overexploitation and generation of vast amounts of waste. For this reason, it is essential that a sustainable development model is adopted—one which makes it possible...

One of the major problems when planting papaya using traditional methods is sex identification of the plant to obtain the highest yield from hermaphrodite fruits. The problem derives from the competence between plants, before sex identification, when three to four plants are planted together. This problem was solved applying a R.A.P.D. technique (R...

The research on grafting in horticultural plants has increased in recent years due to the benefits of grafting on disease control, productivity, and fruit quality. This study analyzes the scientific production on grafting in horticultural plants, using bibliometric techniques with the objective of obtaining a vision of the characteristics of the wo...

A mediados de julio de este año, con la campaña 2018-2019 re-cién acabada, se dio la voz de alarma de que los márgenes que quedaban al productor al-meriense habían ido aún más a la baja que en años anteriores, casi se había reducido en un 50%, viéndose muy afectados los pro-ductores de melón y sandía y, también se consideraba preocupante el cambio...

Due to the process of globalization, companies are obligated to observe corporate social responsibility and best practices from a sustainability approach towards their stakeholders and society. The explicit aim is to determine the relevance of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its relationship with sustainability, in order to establish...

The high-yield agricultural model in Almería is based on eight different crops. Having led fruit and vegetable exports in Spain for more than 50 years, a decrease in melon and watermelon growing areas in Almería caused a change in supply that affected the model's profit. Papaya cultivation could reactivate the profit of the agricultural model in Al...

In Europe, papaya consumption is growing due to its nutritional properties. The proximity of consumer markets to Southeast Spain allows fruits to be harvested at a more advanced stage of maturity compared to exporting countries from outside Europe, a timeline which improves the quality of the papaya. Experiments have been carried out to assess the...

In the Campo de Níjar (southeast Spain), an intensive horticulture model under plastic has been developed based on the use of groundwater. For many years, aquifers have been overexploited, almost generating an environmental collapse. The construction of a desalination plant was planned to improve this situation and to achieve sustainable aquifer ma...

In recent decades, the scarcity of water resources, the deterioration of aquatic ecosystems and associated repercussions for other ecosystems have become major global challenges. In this context, research on water ecosystem services has become increasingly important. The objective of this work is to analyse the evolution of this line of research wo...

The analysis of innovations and technologies aimed at improving the sustainability of mining activity has become important in recent decades. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the dynamics of this line of research worldwide between 1998 and 2017. A bibliometric analysis and a systematic review of a sample of 2,562 articles was devel...

The relevance of forests to sustain human well-being and the serious threats they face have led to a notable increase of research works on forest ecosystem services during the last few years. This paper analyses the worldwide research dynamics on forest ecosystem services in the period from 1998 to 2017. A bibliometric analysis of 4284 articles was...

Water use and sustainable development are pressing issues that affect the overall global system. The economic analysis of water use has been receiving increasing attention among researchers and has become an important field of research in recent decades. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the worldwide dynamics of economic studies on wa...

Sustainability of water use in agriculture is a line of research that has gained in importance worldwide. The present study reviewed 25 years of international research on sustainable water use in agriculture. A bibliometric analysis was developed to sample 2084 articles. Results indicate exponential growth in the number of articles published per ye...

Water use efficiency in agriculture (WUEA) has become a priority given increasing limitations on hydric resources. As a result, this area of research has increased in importance, becoming one of the most prolific lines of study. The main aim of this study was to present a review of worldwide WUEA research over the last 30 years. A bibliometric anal...

En este artículo se presentan las bases de una herramienta para la gestión y evaluación de pacientes con alteraciones en el sistema nervioso central. Esta herramienta tiene en cuenta datos comportamentales, combinados con medidas neurofisiológicas obtenidas a partir de un hardware específico, diseñado para la captura de potenciales evocados. Los po...

Abstract For several decades Almería’s greenhouses have been the driving force behind the region’s socioeconomic and demographic development. Evidence of this is provided by crop yield and profitability, whose importance at the core of the province’s economy has increased year by year. In addition, this sector is extremely important as a source of...

In the context of increasing demand for irrigation water—but, at the same time, with the constraints in the supply from traditional resources—desalinated seawater has been recognized as one of the alternative sources of water to increase the supply for agricultural irrigation. However, its use among farmers has not yet started to expand. Policy mak...

The marble cluster of Macael is located in the southern Spanish province of Almería. In this region, half of the Spanish marble quarries are to be found and they account for 45 per cent of the national marble production. Furthermore, Almería has the biggest marble reserve in Spain in terms of both quantity and quality. The cluster surface is relati...

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar la correlación que existe entre el modelo productivo de base agrícola de Almería y la cooperativa de crédito más importante de España, Cajamar Caja Rural, por estar estrechamente vinculados desde su origen y haber constituido un complejo sistema productivo local. Para ello, se parte de una breve desc...

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar la correlación que existe entre el modelo productivo de base agrícola de Almería y la cooperativa de crédito más importante de España, Cajamar Caja Rural, por estar estrechamente vinculados desde su origen y haber constituido un complejo sistema productivo local. Para ello, se parte de una breve desc...

In this paper we present the basis of a tool for managing and assessing the evolution of subjects (patients) with central nervous systems alterations. This tool takes into account behavioral data, combined with neurophysiological measures obtained from a specific hardware designed to capture evoked potentials. Evoked potentials are used to measure...

Debido a la relación de la temperatura en todos los aspectos del desarrollo de las plantas en el invernadero, el uso de calefacción incluso en países con clima templado, puede implicar un aumento en la producción y en la eficiencia del invernadero. Además, el tipo de invernadero está relacionado con su microclima interior y, en consecuencia, con la...

Prevention and detection of bullying due to racial stigma was studied in school contexts using a system designed following “gamification” principles and integrating less usual elements, such as social interaction, augmented reality and cell phones in educational scenarios. “Grounded Theory” and “User Centered Design” were employed to explore coexis...

As first year students come from diverse backgrounds, basic skills should be accessible to everyone as soon as possible. Transferring such skills to these students is challenging, especially in highly technical courses. Ensuring that essential knowledge is acquired quickly promotes the student’s self-esteem and may positively influence failure rate...

In this paper it is presented a new mobile application called RE2, that was designed to help service sector professionals with managing information related to customers and services. It is based on one of the most interesting recent developments within the framework of customer management: customer engagement. In particular, RE2 digitizes customers...