Using water-energy-food nexus in agricultural management and sustainability by water management approach in Oshtorinan plain

Global predictions have shown that the demand for water, food and energy will increase significantly in the coming years due to population growth, politico-economic development, international trade, urban sprawl, food diversity, and social and climate change. Given the severe shortage of resources, decision-making, planning and implementation of policy in the field of resource management should be based on the knowledge of the interdependence of water, food and energy resources. A three-way relationship is between water, food and energy, and the interrelationship between water, food and energy is called the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEFN). WEFN helps to better understand the interrelationships between the three sources, so using WEFN we can use and manage limited resources sustainably. The study area in this study is Oshtorinan in Boroujerd and a small sub-basin in the north of Boroujerd basin located in Lorestan Province. This study was conducted aimed to assess the relationship between water, food and energy of 4 crops of cucumber, pumpkin, tomato and potato, which are the spring and dominant crops in the study area, during two consecutive years 2019–2020. Data were collected through interviews with 86 farmers in the study area with an area of 210 hectares. According to the study results, potato had the highest water and energy consumption index and on the other hand, the lowest productivity. Pumpkin had the lowest consumption index and the highest productivity. Also, potato had the worst value of WEFN i.e. 0.00 in 2020 and 0.1 in 2019. Pumpkin had the best value in terms of WEFN i.e. 0.92 in 2020 and 0.84 in 2019.