Okra

Deals about the cultivation practice of Okra

1. Bijay Shrestha
Fruit Vegetable Crops
OKRA

2. Fruit Vegetable Crops
EnglishNameNepaliName Scientific Name Family
Tomato
गोलभेडा LycopersiconesculentumSolanaceae
Chilli
पिरोखुर्ाानी CapsicumfrutescensSolanaceae
Eggplant
भान्टा SolanummelongenaSolanaceae
Sweet Pepperभेडेखुर्ाानी Capsicumannum Solanaceae
Okra
पभिंडी AbelmoschusesculentusMalvaceae

3. OKRA

4. INTRODUCTION
Scientific Name-Abelmoschusesculentus
Family-Malvaceae
EnglishName-Okra,Lady’sfinger
NepaliName-पभिंडी,रामतोररया
WidelygrownintropicalandsubtropicalregionofNepal
OriginatedintropicalregionofAfricaorAsia
Highmarketdemandduringspring-summerseason
Growncommerciallyinteraiandmidhills
Okracanbeusedastrapcropsfortomatocultivationtoavoidaphids

5. Uses
Ahardycropandaverygoodsourceofincomeforsmallandmarginal
farmers
Eatenasfreshvegetablewhenitisfairlyyoung
Usedinvariouscurrypreparationsandmostlyeatenasafriedvegetable
Theenergyandnutritionvalueof100gofconsumableunripefreshfruit
includes10.4gdrymatter,3,100calorieenergy,1.8gprotein,90mg
calcium,1.0mgiron,1.0mlcarotene,tracesofthiamine,riboflavinand
niacin,and18mgofVitaminC
Ithelpsdigestion,cutshungercravings,andkeepsthosewhoeatitfuller
forlonger
Recoverytimesand“fatiguelevels”canbeimprovedbyuseoftheokra
plant
Maturedfruitsandstemcontainingcrudefiberareusedinthepaper
industry

6. Climate and Soil Requirement
Climate:
A hot weather crop and thrives well in hot humid season
Susceptible to drought and low night temperatures, can not tolerate frost
Although a tropical region crop, it can also be grown in selected seasons
in warm temperate regions
Optimum temperature for plant development, flowering and fruiting is
25-30°C
Temperature above 42°C makes leaf fall off the plant
Soil:
Can be grown in a wide range of soils (sandy to clay)
Due to its tap root system, well-drained deep loam soil rich in organic
matter with high water holding capacity is best
Soil with pH 6.0 to 7.5 allows for maximum nutrient uptake through roots,
leading to higher yield

7. Variety
Nepalese farmers mostly cultivate locally available varieties of okra.
Following two varieties have been released by government
1.Parvati
Open pollinated variety. High yielding early variety
Fruits are medium green and fleshy in nature
Resistant to Yellow Vein Mosaic virus.
Harvesting can be done in 50-60DAS
Recommended for Terai, mid hill and high hills
Yield-12-16ton/ha
Its old name-ParwaniKranti

8. Variety
2.ArkaAnamika
Open pollinated variety. High yielding early variety
Fruits are medium green and has 5 ridge in fruit
Resistant to Yellow Vein Mosaic virus.
Harvesting can be done in 55DAS
Recommended for Terai, mid hill and high hills
Yield-11.5 ton/ha

9. Land preparation and Manure Application
LandPreparation:
3-4deepploughingalongwithclearingtheweedsandcropdebris
Soilshouldbewellpulverizedandwelllevelled
FYMisaddedin3
rd
ploughingandchemicalfertilizersareaddedin4
th
/last
ploughing
ManureApplication:
1000kgperropaniofwelldecomposedFYMorcompostmanure
TosupplementtheFYM,apply8kgofurea,6kgofphosphorusand3kgof
potashperropani.
Applyallmanureandfertilizerexcepthalfdoseofureaattimeoffield
preparation.
Applytheremaininghalfdoseofnitrogenastopdressingafteramonthand
2monthsaftersowing

10. Seed rate and Sowing
Seedratedependsuponthegrowingseason
Inwinterabout1kgofseedisrequiredforoneropani
Inrainyseason,only500gofseedisenoughforoneropani
Beforesowing,itisbettertosoaktheseedinwaterfor24hoursand
driedpriortosowing
Inwintergrowing,twoseedsaresownataspacingof50cmR-Rand
30cmP-Patadepthof2-3cm
Inrainyseason,ridgeof120cmismade.Distancebetweentworidgesis
30cmanddepthoffurrowshouldbe15cm.
Seedsaresownintworowsinridgeataspacingof60cmR-Rand30cm
P-P.

11. Sowing and Fruit picking time
Sowingandfruitpickingtimesdifferaccordingtothegeographical
locationandseason
Okraissowndirectlyastransplantingbringslittlesuccess
Inhighhills,seedsaresowninBaisakh-JesthaandharvestedinAsar-
Shrawan.
Inmidhills,seedsaresowninFalgun-AsarandharvestedinJestha-Asoj.
Interai,seedsaresowninMagh-AsarandharvestedinBaisakh-Asoj.

12. Irrigation and Mulching
Soilmoisturecontentshouldbeexaminedbeforethesowing.Ifthereis
anymoisturedeficitpriortosowing,irrigationisrecommendedfor
improvedgermination.
Duringsummertime,irrigationshouldbedoneatevery4-7days
interval.
Butduringrainyseason,careshouldbegivenforthedrainagerather
thanirrigation.
Mulchingispreferableduringsummerseasontoavoidexcessive
moistureloss
Mulchingcanbedonewiththehelpofsaw
dust,straw,treeleaves,orpolytheneetc.

13. Weeding
Okragerminateslittleslowthat’swhyitisnecessarytoremoveany
weedsorunwantedplantsinfieldthatemergesafter5-20daysofsowing
Secondweedingisdoneafteramonthofsowingatthetimeofadding
fertilizers
Thirdweedingisalsodoneatthetimeoffertilizerapplicationwhichis2
monthsaftersowing
Oncetheplantiswellestablished,weeddoesn’tbecomeanyproblem.
Afterweedingitisbestpracticetoearthingupthesoil

14. Harvesting and Yield
Okra can be harvested after 50-60days after sowing
The fruits can be of different length varying from 5 to 20cm long
The tender fruit of length 7-10 cm are considered to be ideal quality
The quality of fruit declines as the harvesting is delayed
Harvesting can be done after every 2-3 days
It is considered to be ideal to harvest the fruit after 5-7 days of flowering
Average yield of okra from one ropani is 500-1000kg depending upon
growing season and variety grown

15. D/s and pests of Okra:
Themajorinsectsthatattackokrafruitareshootborerandleafhopper.
Amongdiseases,powderymildewandyellowveinmosaicarethe
importantones.
Write about symptom and control of given d/s and pests.
Submit Next Sunday

16. Thank You