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Analysis the water-food-energy nexus is the first step to assess the decision maker in developing and evaluating national strategies that take into account the nexus. The main objective of the current research is providing a method for the decision makers to analysis the water-food-energy nexus of the crop production system at the national level and carrying out a quantitative assessment of it. Through the proposed method, indicators considering the water and energy consumption, mass productivity, and economic productivity were suggested. Based on these indicators a water-food-energy nexus index (WFENI) was performed. The study showed that the calculated WFENI of the Egyptian summer crops have scores that range from 0.21 to 0.79. Comparing to onion (the highest scoring WFENI,i.e., the best score), rice has the lowest WFENI among the summer food crops. Analysis of the water-food-energy nexus of forty-two Egyptian crops in year 2010 was caried out (energy consumed for irrigation represent 7.4% of the total energy footprint). WFENI can be applied to developed strategies for the optimal cropping pattern that minimizing the water and energy consumption and maximizing their productivity. It can be applied as a holistic tool to evaluate the progress in the water and agricultural national strategies. Moreover, WFENI could be applied yearly to evaluate the performance of the water-food-energy nexus managmant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates a method for applying the water-food-energy nexus approach to propose an optimal cropping pattern. The proposed cropping pattern maximizes economic water and energy productivity and minimizes water and energy use. Through this method a water-food-energy nexus index is applied. A case study from Egypt is applied to illustrate the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, food, energy are inextricably connected. As the largest user of water agriculture accounts for about 70% of the total water withdrawals globally. Food production and supply also consume about 30% of total global energy. Given the water-food-energy interconnections, integrated planning, policy and management are required for the food production system where the nexus approach can be applied. The current study presents a method for applying the water-food-energy nexus approach to optimize water and energy use for food crop production. A water-food-energy nexus index was used as an objective function, and its derivation was explained. A linear optimization approach is used to maximize the water-food-energy nexus index. This leads to a multi-objective optimization approach which proposes an optimal cropping pattern to save water and energy and increase the agricultural net return. A case study from Egypt was applied to illustrate the benefits of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]