Rethinking organic efficiency: A dynamic analysis of resource trade-offs in Italian agriculture through the FWEE nexus

• This paper provides the first systematic, causal farm-level evaluation of organic conversion through the Food–Water–Energy–Environment (FWEE) nexus using 53,804 Italian FADN crop-farm observations (2015–2022) and a dynamic DiD estimator suited to reversible adoption. • The nexus results show a clear Food–Energy trade-off: total energy intensity per euro of adjusted output increases by about 1.229 pp overall, with larger and more persistent penalties in permanent crops (about 2.118 pp) than in field crops/horticulture (about 1.235 pp). • Food–Water and Water–Energy interactions are highly transition-dependent, with early irrigation burdens per adjusted output and later increases in water-per-energy ratios, indicating tighter water–energy coupling when output dips during conversion. • Environmental gains are not automatic: biodiversity and nitrogen proxies show no consistent improvements, while crop-protection burdens per output (and per water) often rise, yielding mixed/negative outcomes in the Food–Environment and Water–Environment links. • The conclusions stress that EU organic targets require system-specific, nexus-aware support (technology integration and concentrated help in early transition years), and the paper fills key gaps by moving beyond single-indicator/static/pilot or theoretical studies with real nationwide multi-crop data, explicit system heterogeneity, and dynamic conversion-phase impacts. This paper evaluates whether converting to organic farming delivers resource efficiency once cross-domain trade-offs are measured within the Food–Water–Energy–Environment (FWEE) nexus framework. Using 53,804 Italian crop-farm observations (2015–2022) from FADN, the analysis applies a dynamic difference-in-differences estimator for reversible conversion. Findings show that total energy intensity per euro of adjusted output rises overall, with pronounced and persistent penalties in permanent crops and volatile, only partly reversing spikes in annuals. Irrigation burdens per adjusted output increase during conversion, evidencing tighter water-energy coupling under yield dips. Environmental gains are non-automatic: biodiversity and nitrogen proxies show no consistent improvements, while crop-protection burdens per output often rise. Results imply nexus-aware, system-specific technical support, technology integration,conversion payment mechanisms, and moving beyond input reduction alone to address system heterogeneity, yield gaps, and momentaryinefficiencies through coordinated soil-water-energy management strategies to convert temporary trade-offs into durable synergies for Farm-to-Fork implementation.