## Materials and Methods
### Sustainability Evaluation  
#### 2.3.1 Dexi-met  
Model Application  
To assess the sustainability of the agro-ecological practices implemented in the experimental field trials, crops yield and energy outputs were measured. The marketable yields were multiplied by their \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline  & **ECO** & **GM** & **NO ASC** \\ \hline
**Year** & 2016/2017 & 2016/2017 & 2016/2017 \\
**Total area** & 1 ha & 1 ha & 1 ha \\
**Soil texture** & Clay soil & Clay soil & Clay soil \\
**Strip cultivation for** & Yes (on ridge-flat strips & & \\
**agroecological function** & system) & No & No \\  & & Ridges: & \\  & cauliflower/tomato & & \\
**Cash crop** & 0.5 ha & Tomato 1 ha & Tomato 1 ha \\  & Strips: zucchini/lettuce & & \\  & 0.5 ha & & \\
**ASC as break crops** & Vetch/oats 0.5 ha in & Vetch/oats 1 ha & No \\  & strips & & \\
**ASC as living much** & Clover 0.5 ha on ridges & No & No \\
**Phytosanitary management** & Organic (pyrethrum, Cu, S) & Organic (pyrethrum, & Organic (pyrethrum, \\  & Cu, S) & Cu, S) \\
**Fertilization management** & On-farm organic & On-farm organic & Commercial organic \\  & fertilizers & fertilizers & fertilizers \\
**Amount of N distributed** & 215 kg ha\({}^{-1}\) & 150 kg ha\({}^{-1}\) & 150 kg ha\({}^{-1}\) \\
**with the fertilization** & & Minimum tillage & Minimum tillage \\
**Irrigation system and water** & & & \\  & & \\  & & \\  & & \\  & & \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Description of the three different systems analyzed. ECO = organic system with the full implementation of the agro-ecological strategies; GM = organic system with the introduction of the agro-ecological service crops (ASC); NO ASC = organic system without ASC. own coefficient of equivalent energy taken by the literature, to estimate the energy outputs [22]. The data of each agricultural operation were collected in a standardized procedure. All field practices were recorded (human labor as h ha\({}^{-1}\), fuels consumption as kg ha\({}^{-1}\)), during the cover crop management and the cash crop cycles. Moreover, to better understand the systems environmental impact and sustainability, the _DEXi-met_ model was used, aiming at assessing the level of sustainability of each considered system [20]. _DEXi-met_ was developed for the ex-post assessment in organic horticulture by implementing the original DEXi software, which is utilized in multi-criteria decision analysis [23]. The ex-post assessment carried out with this model includes the basic attributes derived from the field experiment (e.g., productions, organic matter, etc.). In more details, _DEXi-met_ is based on a hierarchical decision tree structure that breaks down the sustainability into smaller modules, which can be explained and calculated. Both qualitative and quantitative basic attributes are categorized into a linguistic scale, that is from a three-value scale (\"low\", \"medium\", \"high\"), used for the basic attribute, to a seven-value scale (\"very-low\", \"low\", \"medium-low\", \"medium\", \"medium-high\", \"high\", \"very-high\") for the \"overall sustainability\". The evaluation procedure begins with the calculation of the basic attributes, that could be also calculated using a satellite tree [24]. Their homogenization into the rank-ordered qualitative scale and the pyramidal aggregation of attributes contributed to the calculation of the aggregated final sustainability. The aggregation procedure is based on decision rules and relative weightings, that were given to each attribute, according to their alleged significance and contribution to sustainability. The weightings were defined involving both decision analysts and experts (i.e., researchers, agronomists, and farmers) and considering the literature, as indicated in [PERSON] et al. [20].