INTRODUCTION

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) is commonly known

as‘bhendi’ or lady’s finger in Bangladesh, India. It is the choicest fruit

vegetable grown extensively in the tropical, subtropical and warm

area of the temperate zones of the world.

It’s native of tropical Africa, it is widely cultivated in India,

Bangladesh and Pakistan. Okra belongs to family Malvaceae

• Okra requires a long warm season for high yields However can be grow in areas with average temperatures 18 – 35 ºC

• Optimal temperatures for seed germination: 25 – 30 ºC

• Flowers are dropped at day-time temperatures above 42 ºC

Climate

• Okra can grow in wide range of soils, but well drained Best soils for Oka production are Sandy loams,

• Emergence is poor in heavy clay soils

• Soil pH 6 – 7.5

Land requirement

Cultural practices

• Isolation requirement: Okra is self and cross

pollinated crop. The extent of natural cross

pollination varies from 4-19 %. The seed fields

must be isolated from fields of other varieties

and fields of same variety not confirming to

varietal purity requirements of certification

and from wild Abelmoschus species by at least

400 and 200 m for foundation and certified

seed production respectively.

Cultural practices

Sowing time : the crop can be grown round the year but care should

be taken that harvesting does not coincide with heavy rains. Further

rabi sown crop is heavily infested by insects and pests. Hence, early

kharif sown crop or summer sown crop is good for seed production.

Method of sowing: sowing should be done in rows by following a

spacing of 60 x 30-45cm for kharif season and 45 x 30 cm for summer

season.

Seeding Rate

• Depend on the season, method of planting and variety

• Summer seed rate 1.6 – 2 kg/jerib

• For a better germination, soak the seed for 24 hours before planting

• Okra seed will not germinate if soil temperature is below 16ºC

Planting

Okra can be direct seeded or transplanted Either case, plant the crop on raised bed 1.1 m bed-center to bed-center

• Direct seeded 2 – 3 seeds/station • 1.5 – 2 cm deep • Two rows per bed, station 40 cm apart, alternate

• Transplanted 2 rows per bed, 40 cm apart • 40 cm between plants, alternate • 9,000 plants/jerib

Cultural practices

Thinning: The thinning operation was carried

out by removing weak and diseased plants and

maintaining only one healthy and vigorous

seedling per hill.

Okra Seedlings

Weed Control

For the spring-summer crop, hand weeded the

crop 3 – 4 times

•Four hand weeding (at 30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS) were

carried out during the crop growth period.

• Inter cultivation with entire blade hoes were carried

out at an interval of 15 days starting from 20 to 30 days

after sowing.

• The earthing up was done manually at 30 days after

sowing

Fertilization

• Use FYM and chemical fertilizers Okra cycle is long – until 120 days

• Okra requires 10 Kg N, 7.5 Kg of P2O5, and 5 Kg of K2O for each ton of production

• Before sowing 5 – 6 MT FYM should be applied and mixed well with soil • Final bed preparation, applied one bag of DAP

• After transplanting Six week later applied 1bag Urea

Cultural practices

• Roguing: Minimum of three inspections for varieties and 4 inspections for hybrids, one at vegetative, two at flowering and one at fruit maturity stages. The rouging should be based on the plant characters, hairiness, fruit character like fruit colour, number of ridges, fruit length etc., and the off type and mosaic attacked plants should be removed from the seed field. Wild bhendi if present should be removed before flowering

Irrigation

• A light irrigation is recommended soon after sowing for a good germination Heavy early irrigation cool the soil and slow plant growth

• Irrigation frequency varies with season and soil type Regular watering, weekly interval

• During hot weather irrigate twice a week

Cultural practices Plant protection measures

To control the pest and diseases necessary plant protection

measures were taken as and when required.

Pest and disease management: The major pest attacking bhendi are

jassids, aphids and white fly, which can be controlled by spraying

Rogar or Dimecron or Endosulphon. The pod borer and red spider

mites can be controlled by spraying Endosulphon and Kelthane,

respectively. The diseases such as yellow vein mosaic and powdery

mildew can be controlled by spraying systemic insecticides and

Karathane, respectively.

Cultural practices

• Field Inspection : A minimum of threeinspections shall be made, the first before flowering, the second during peak flowering and fruiting stage and the third at mature fruit stage and prior to harvesting

• Harvesting: Fruits should be harvested when they have dried (30-35 days after crossing). The pods which expose hairline crack and turn to brown colour on drying alone are cut using sickle manually.

Threshing: The pods are dried and threshed using pliable sticks.

Separated seeds are winnowed to remove plant debris and dried over a

tarpaulin to 10% moisture content. Dried seeds are subject to water

floatation in which, good seeds sink while poor seeds float. The

floaters are removed, while sinkers are dried under shade followed by

sun drying. Then the seed are cleaned, dried and treated with Captan/

Thiram.

Processing: Seeds are to be processed with BSS 7 wire mesh sieve.

Seed Yield: 1000-1200 Kg/ha

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