); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (C.V.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (N.M.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.R)  
[PERSON]  
1 Councli for Agricultural Research and Economics, Agriculture and Environment Research Centre (CREA-AA), 70125 Bari, Italy; alessandro.ciurlia@[PERSON] (A.C.) [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (V.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.P. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (S.R. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (C.V.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (N.M.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.R)  
[PERSON]  
1 Councli for Agricultural Research and Economics, Agriculture and Environment Research Centre (CREA-AA), 70125 Bari, Italy; alessandro.ciurlia@[PERSON] (A.C.) [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (V.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.P. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (S.R. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (C.V.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (N.M.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.R)  
[PERSON]  
1 Councli for Agricultural Research and Economics, Agriculture and Environment Research Centre (CREA-AA), 70125 Bari, Italy; [PERSON]@[PERSON] (A.C.) [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.M. ); valeiro.minneri@[PERSON] (V.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.P. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (S.R. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (C.V.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (N.M.); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.R)  
[PERSON]  
1 Councli for Agricultural Research and Economics, Agriculture and Environment Research Centre (CREA-AA), 70125 Bari, Italy; [PERSON]@[PERSON] (A.C.) [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (V.M. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (M.P. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); [PERSON]@[PERSON] (G.D.C. ); nicola. The commercial value of watermelon fruits is strongly linked to marketable quality standards; therefore, non-saleable fruits (due to non-standard sizes, anomalous shapes or imperfect skin) are usually not harvested [6] and are left on the soil surface, until subsequent chopping. This final crop management step, following the scaled harvesting of watermelon fruits, has never been studied in terms of carbon dioxide (CO\({}_{2}\)) and water (H\({}_{2}\)O) balances, despite it being part of the cropping season. Mulching efficiently reduces ineffective water consumption by reducing soil evaporation [7]; therefore, it is often recommended as an agrotechnical practice to enhance water use efficiency (WUE) [8] in high-value crops, both herbaceous and arboreal [9]. On the other hand, mulching with films was found to significantly affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the crop growth cycle, although the actual impacts on the GHG balance are still debated. [PERSON] et al. [10] found a general consistent reduction in GHG emissions in mulched rice cropping; [PERSON] et al. [11] noted that a film-mulched cotton crop acts as a stronger carbon sink compared to a non-mulched canopy; [PERSON] et al. [12] observed that partial mulching in maize stimulates assimilation more than respiration throughout the growing season, resulting in more efficient carbon storage; [PERSON] et al. [13] found that film mulching combined with straw incorporation in a maize crop increases CO\({}_{2}\) and nitrous oxide (N\({}_{2}\)O) emissions and, at season level, increases soil C storage with respect to other treatments. Conversely, other studies (see the review by [14]) have reported that mulching films increase N\({}_{2}\)O emissions, an effect largely dependent on the agricultural system adopted. Furthermore, [PERSON] et al. [15] found that plastic mulching combined with drip irrigation in rice enhanced both carbon assimilation and respiration, with the latter increasing more than the former. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [16] reported that in wheat, plastic mulching plus irrigation decreased the C footprint at high nitrogen (N) fertilization rates, whereas the C footprint increased under low N rates compared to cultivation without mulch. The processes involved when a film uniformly covers part of the cultivated surface include alterations in the soil's hydrological and thermal conditions, which, subsequently, influence the soil's biogeochemical processes.