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.

A compromise programming based model has been developed for maximizing food production with minimum allocation of available water at watershed scale after meeting human, livestock and environmental needs under different scenarios. Agricultural water allocation in conjunction with available land resources under a set of constraints has been examined. The formulated model has the potential to analyze the implications of water availability on agricultural water allocation plans, and consequently food production. A case study in Indian Himalayan region, where despite abundant availability of water, rainfed agriculture is mostly practiced by majority of farmers with a primary objective of self-sufficiency in food production, well demonstrates the applicability of the developed model. Three distinct scenarios affecting water availability were considered. Analysis of imposition of fixed mandatory outflows of 20 to 70 % (as per water source) for satisfying environmental needs with present production mix revealed water scarcity within the study watershed ranging from 4 to 66 % across various quarters of an year, which necessitates optimum utilization of rainfed fallow land by allocating it to high value crops ginger and lentil (6 to 32 times more than existing allocation) on one hand, and drastic reduction (76 to 100 %) of area under all irrigated crops (except onion with 4–6 times increase) on the other, to achieve the conflicting objectives. The compromise plans also suggested increase (by 14 % in environmental watershed scenario) or decrease (by 29 % in degraded watershed scenario) in size of livestock population as per scenario based water availability. Overall, the compromise plans were successful in achieving a high percentage (>93 %) of ideal values of the objective functions, which were 155 to 170 % of existing food production and 71 to 85 % of existing water utilization across the scenarios. The proposed optimization model has the potential for application in identical agro-climatic settings to enhance food production in an environmental friendly manner.

Nitrate levels in 136 samples of 5 commonly consumed vegetables grown in areas of South Australia where groundwater generally had high nitrate levels were examined to test the hypothesis that food grown in this area would have markedly elevated nitrate levels and hence contribute to the high proportion of fetal deaths attributed to congenital abnormalities. The risk of abnormal fetal development in this area is statistically associated with consumption of water which has 3 or more times the nitrate level found in the drinking water of other nearby areas. Mean nitrate concentrations were reported for 4 seasons of the year in both the low nitrate areas and other areas. Wide variations occur by season and vegetable type. The highest nitrate value was found in lettuce and the lowest in onions. Comparison was also made to values reported for the same vegetables grown in the US. There was no suggestion of an overall elevation in the nitrate content of samples from this area of Australia. (emc)

A re-evaluation of the taxonomic position of five strains, one assigned to Cronobacter sakazakii (strain 1330T, isolated from spiced meat purchased in Slovakia), two previously assigned to Cronobacter genomospecies 1 (strains NCTC 9529T and 731, isolated from water and a leg infection, respectively) and two previously assigned to Cronobacter turicensis (strains 96 and 1435, isolated from onion powder and rye flour, respectively) was carried out. The analysis included phenotypic characterization, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of seven housekeeping genes (atpD, fusA, glnS, gltB, gyrB, infB, ppsA; 3036 bp). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and MLSA showed that strain 1330T formed an independent phylogenetic lineage in the MLSA, with Cronobacter dublinensis LMG 23823T as the closest neighbour. DNA–DNA reassociation and phenotypic analysis revealed that strain 1330T represented a novel species, for which the name Cronobacter condimenti sp. nov. is proposed (type strain 1330T = CECT 7863T = LMG 26250T). Strains NCTC 9529T, 731, 96 and 1435 clustered together within an independent phylogenetic lineage, with C. turicensis LMG 23827T as the closest neighbour in the MLSA. DNA–DNA reassociation and phenotypic analysis confirmed that these strains represent a novel species, for which the name Cronobacter universalis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain NCTC 9529T = CECT 7864T = LMG 26249T).