Evaluating the validity of rice straw as a suitable agricultural substrate for common bean plants under net house conditions

This research paper was carried out in the net house at the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC), throughout two tested seasons of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 to investigate the effect of using rice straw as a growing substrate (bale & ditch) on vegetative growth, yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of two cultivars of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), Hilda as indeterminate variety and Nebraska determinate variety compared to conventional cultivation in soil. Seedlings were cultivated at 1st September in two growing seasons. Study was included three treatments with 4 replicates arranged in a randomized complete block design. Results indicated that plants grown on ditch rice straw treatment as substrate reflected the highest positive effect on vegetative growth characters (plant length, number of leaves/plant and stem diameter), leaves mineral content of N. P. K and yield and its components (total yield/plant, and fiber content on pods) at both studied cultivars. While, the lowest negative effect on those characters was observed with bale rice straw treatment. Moreover, raised bed clay (control) treatment was replaced in second place after the treatment of ditch rice straw. In addition, cultivation into straw ditch consumed lower quantities of water than other treatments. Finally, straw ditch substrate may be recommended for increasing common bean productivity and decreasing water utilization beneath net house conditions.