Sustainable biochar outperforms hydrogel in alleviating water stress, enhancing Zebda mango yield and water use efficiency

Water scarcity in arid regions is common, but deficit irrigation is a challenge to address climate change and growing water needs. Effective water conservation management is crucial for addressing climate change sustainability and mitigating water scarcity. So, the aim of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of biochar at 7 and 14 kg/tree, hydrogel at 50 and 100 g/tree as water-saving agents in mitigating the negative effects of deficit irrigation at 70% and 85% of irrigation requirements (IR) in Zebda mango variety. The results indicated that reducing the irrigation level from 85% IR to 70% IR led to a significant reduction in plant growth, fruit retention, yield, and quality, as well as water use efficiency (WUE). However, biochar and hydrogel, particularly at high levels, successfully alleviated water stress in mango Zebda trees. Moreover, biochar significantly outperformed the impact of hydrogel in alleviating water stress by enhancing plant growth, fruit set and fruit quality. Treatment of 14kg biochar increased fruit yield by 35.1% and 54.5 % as well as improvement in WUE by 34.7% and 54.9% for 85%IR and 70% IR as mean of both seasons. Furthermore, biochar at 14kg surpasses hydrogel at100g by 21.16% and 20.99% in terms of yield and WUE under 70% IR. Biochar and hydrogel successfully mitigated deficit irrigation effects, suggesting future research use 100% or 85% deficit irrigation during flowering, fruit set, and growth, and 70% at other stages.