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Date palm empty bunch and pit-derived biochar: a sustainable soil amendment for alleviating drought effects in protected cucumber cultivation
Abstract
Sustainable agricultural production strategies are essential for achieving food security in water limited regions. Among these, the use of biochar as a soil amendment conditioner is one of the strategies being practiced to conserve water and improve soil properties. Assessing the effect of biochar on cucumber yield using deficit irrigation is important to develop management strategies for the greenhouse production to conserve water and increase yield. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the effects of biochar addition on the growth and quality of cucumbers under water stress conditions. Cucumber plants were grown under three irrigation regimes: 100% (no-water stress), 80% (moderate-water stress), and 60% (high-water stress) of the field capacity (FC). Two different feedstocks of date palm biomass were used to produce biochar, i.e., empty bunch (EB) and pit (PT), whereas sandy loam alone was used as a control. Findings of the experiment revealed that cucumber plants grown in EB and PT biochar-amended potting media and received water at 100% FC enhanced the crop growth, physiology, yield, and quality attributes. The study also found that cucumber plants grown in EB and PT biochar-amended media at 80% and 60% FC showed superior growth and development traits compared to the control at 100% FC. Cucumber plants grown in control at 80% and 60% FC showed significantly negative results. EB biochar at 100% FC produced superior results; however, at 80% and 60% FC, water conservation is possible at a slight compromise to cucumber growth, yield, and quality attributes.
