Tomato and Melon Production Under Different Water-Agricultural Management Practices from the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Viewpoint

Given the resource scarcity and expanding demand in the Mediterranean region, a more efficient use of water and energy resources for food production is a necessary and inevitable choice. As a result, the linkages between water, energy, and food should be investigated and examined in order to improve resource-use effi-ciency and food security. On that premise, the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus approach was used for tomato and melon crops grown in two field trials conducted in Egypt and Southern Italy under different irrigation treatments. Furthermore, melon production was investigated in terms of plastic mulching application (M1) and non-application (M0). Individual indicators of yield (Y), water productivity (WP), and energy productivity (EP) were taken into account in the WEF nexus evidence-based perspectives. The sustainability polygons approach was used to evaluate the WEF nexus by combining the three metrics into a nexus index (WEFNI). The results obtained on the tomato trial indicated that the regulated deficit irrigation applying 80% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) at initial and maturity growing stages was the best-performing strategy from the WEF point of view. Next was ranked deficit irrigation at 80% of ETc and full irrigation over the whole season. Irrigation at 60% of ETc did not seem suitable for tomato production in Egypt from the WEF perspec-tive. Regarding melon production in Italy, the best WEF Nexus performance was achieved for full irrigation without mulching that had the highest WEFNI value. In the case of light to moderate water constraints, deficit irrigation applying 70% of ETc under mulching could be a balanced treatment that raised up the WP without huge reduction in yield. In conclusion, adopting the WEF approach to analyze agricultural productivity is essential to consider all aspects of crop development and choose the optimal adaptation and mitigation measures. For better WEF analysis, it is recom-mended to consider the value chain of agricultural inputs, on-farm operations, the “from farm to fork” strategy, and the interconnected environmental, economic, and complexity of agricultural production.