Journal NMLKJIHGFEDCBA J. BioL Cltem: Environ. Sci., 2012, VoL 7(4):223-241 www.acepsag.org tsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA COMPARISON AMONG DIFFERENT COMPOST SOURCES AND RATES FOR CUCUMBER PRODUCTION UNDER UNHEATED PLASTIC HOUSES Abul-Soud M. A., M. S. A. Emam and M. A. A. Abdrabbo Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, Egypt. ABSTRACT Field experiment was conducted during two successive autumn seasons of 2010/2011 and 201112012 at El-Bossily Farm, Behira Governorate in the North Coastal of Egypt to utilize and investigate The effect of different sources of compost (vermicompost of cattle manureYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + vegetable and fruit wastes + shredded newspaper, faba bean compost, rice compost and cattle manure) combined with different compost rates 2, 4 and 6 m 3 per standard greenhouse (540 m 2 ) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. vs. Safa 62 F1 ) growth and yield under unheated single span plastic house. Data revealed that using vermicompost recorded the highest values of vegetative growth, yield and number of fruits per plant followed by using cattle manure compost during the two successive seasons. The lowest total yield was obtained by using rice straw compost during the two tested seasons. Increasing compost rate up to 6 m 3 per greenhouse enhanced plant growth, number of fruits and total yields under different compost sources. The reuse of agricultural residues and organic urban wastes in composting and vermicomposting as raw materials instead of burning to produce organic fertilizers led to sequestrate CO 2 in the soil by 340, 398, 463 and 286 kg/tone and conserve nitrogen fertilizer by 17.1, 13.0, 9.8 and 16.9 kg/tone of vermicompost, faba bean compost, rice compost and cattle manure respectively Keywords: Agricultural residues, organic urban wastes, manure, vermicompost, compost, growth, yield, CO 2 mitigation and cucumber.