In this presentation i have shown cultivation and seed production technology of okra .

2. 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

4. • 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

5. • 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. Okra Seedlings

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. Cultural practices
• Field Inspection : A minimum of three
inspections 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.

18.  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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