Floral pigmentation stability, supported by balanced soil water and nutrient availability, plays a crucial role in enhancing inflorescence traits and determining growth, yield and profitability in chrysanthemum cultivation. Therefore, field experiments were conducted during the rabi seasons of 2023–24 and 2024–25 at the Precision Farming Development Centre (PFDC), Water Technology Centre, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, to evaluate the effects of various irrigation and fertigation regimes on the performance of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) cultivars. The study employed a split-split plot design comprising two cultivars (Autumn Pink and Autumn White), three irrigation levels (0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 Epan), and three fertigation regimes (50%, 75%, and 100% RDF). The study was conducted in a semi-arid, sub-tropical climate characterized by hot, dry summers and cold winters. The experimental soil was classified as sandy loam, consisting of 71% sand, 14% silt, and 15% clay. It had a pH of 7.65, an electrical conductivity of 0.29 dS/m, and an organic carbon content of 0.43%. The soil moisture analysis revealed that the experimental site had a field capacity of 24.3% and a permanent wilting point of 7.3%. The available nutrient levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were recorded as 125.66, 26.55, and 281.41 kg/ha respectively indicated that optimal nutrient supplementation is essential for sustaining soil fertility and crop performance. The final results revealed that among the cultivars autumn white performed superior results than autumn pink with respective of plant height (81.92 cm), internodal length (4.22 cm), stem diameter (15.39 mm), dry matter (71.50 g/plant), number of buds per plant (14.47), flower diameter (9.71 cm), weight of flower (9.59 g), cut flowers per plant (6.16) and flower yield (14.62 t/ha). Among different irrigation regimes irrigation scheduled at 0.75 Epan produced the maximum vegetative growth and flower yield, indicating that it is a more water-efficient strategy without sacrificing productivity. Notably, irrigation at 1.0 Epan exhibited performance comparable to the 0.75 Epan treatment, highlighting its similarly effective influence on crop growth and yield. Similarly, among different fertigation levels 100% RDF provided better results with respective of all flowering and yield attributes, confirming that adequate irrigation coupled with higher fertigation not only enhanced nutrient status in soil but also helped in maintaining better residual soil fertility across both chrysanthemum varieties. Similarly, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) technique successfully reduced the dimensionality of the dataset and effectively identified the dominant growth and flowering parameters contributing to yield variability, highlighting the importance of biomass and floral traits in overall productivity of chrysanthemum. The study concluded that optimized irrigation and fertigation (particularly 0.75 Epan irrigation with 100% RDF) coupled with Autumn white cultivars significantly improved growth, flowering attributes, yield and overall profitability and also served as a sustainable strategy for commercial chrysanthemum production, especially in water-limited environments.

The experiment was carried out during rabi season of 2018-19 at Water Technology Centre, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad on capsicum (Capsicum annuum var. grossum L.) with respect to different nitrogen and potassium fertigation levels under poly house. The experiment comprised of three replications in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with two factors {i.e. N levels (4), K levels (3) } and twelve treatments Viz; N fertigation levels of 0 %, 120 % (216 kg N ha^-1) , 150 % (270 kg N ha^-1), 180 % (324 kg N ha^-1) and K fertigation levels of 0 %, 80 % (96 kg K₂O ha^-1), 100% (120 kg K₂O ha^-1) respectively. The 100 % RDF was 180, 90 and 120 kg N, P₂O₅ and K₂O ha^-1. The source of N was urea, P was single super phosphate (SSP) and K was white muriate of potash (MOP). The N and K were applied through drip fertigation on every fourth day during different crop growth stages. In the fertigation programme, during crop establishment stage (10 DAT to 14 DAT), 10 % of N and K₂O were applied in two splits. During vegetative stage, (15 to 46 DAT) 30 % of N and 20 % of K₂O were applied in eight splits. During flower initiation to fruit development (47 DAT to 74 DAT) 20 % of N and K₂O were applied in seven splits. From fruit development till final harvesting stage (75 DAT to 154 DAT) 40 % of N and 50 % K₂O were applied in 20 splits in a total of 37 splits. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture with low in available nitrogen (166.5 kg ha^-1), medium in available phosphorus (81.1 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1) and low in available potassium (245.4 kg K₂O ha^-1). Irrigation was scheduled at 0.8 Epan based on pan evaporation data. The total water applied to the crop was 414.8 mm. The total nitrogen content in capsicum shoots ranged from 3.41 to 4.57 %, 4.29 to 6.35 %, 4.43 to 6.67%, 4.76 to 6.86% and 4.53 to 6.58% at 30, 60, 90, and 120 and at final harvest respectively. In fruits, it ranged from 4.11 to 6.49 %, 3.92 to 6.35%, 4.01 to 6.25 % at 90, 120 and at final harvest respectively. The total phosphorus content in capsicum shoots ranged from 0.13 to 0.23 %, 0.42 to 0.92%, 0.14 to 0.33%, 0.12 to 0.24% and 0.12 to 0.20% at 30, 60, 90, 120 and at final harvest respectively. In fruits it ranged from 0.20 to 0.59 %, 0.24 to 0.57 %, 0.26 to 0.70 % at 90, 120 and at final harvest respectively. The total potassium content in capsicum shoots ranged from 0.87 to 1.83 %, 1.77 to 2.65%, 1.50 to 2.23%, 0.96 to 1.54% and 0.83 to 1.38% at 30, 60, 90, 120 and at final harvest respectively. In fruits it ranged from 1.02 to 1.47%, 0.98 to 1.35%, 0.93 to 1.28% at 90, 120 and at final harvest respectively.

Energy use efficiency is a key indicator of sustainability in pulse-based agricultural systems. This study evaluated the energy input–output performance of five major pulse crops of India—chickpea, redgram, lentil, greengram, and blackgram-across representative pulse-growing districts using standard energy equivalents and APSIM simulations. Total energy input ranged from 4579 MJ ha ⁻¹ in greengram to 10,048 MJ ha ⁻¹ in lentil, while energy output varied considerably across crops and regions. Redgram recorded the highest mean total energy output (110,346 MJ ha ⁻¹ ), net energy (101,868 MJ ha ⁻¹ ), and energy use efficiency (13.02). Lentil showed the lowest efficiency (5.02) and the highest specific energy (8.30 MJ kg ⁻¹ ). Chickpea exhibited relatively low specific energy (3.93 MJ kg ⁻¹ ) and stable performance under semi-arid conditions. Significant spatial variability in energy indicators reflected regional differences in climate and management practices. Overall, redgram and chickpea emerged as energetically superior pulse crops under Indian conditions. Quadratic regression analysis of the water use-yield relationship revealed crop-specific optima, with redgram requiring 600–900 mm seasonal water use for maximum yield, whereas chickpea, greengram, lentil, and blackgram showed optima between 100 and 550 mm. These findings highlight the importance of region-specific crop and water management strategies to improve productivity, energy efficiency, and sustainability in pulse-based cropping systems.