GROWER’S GUIDE (Okra)

Description

Okra – Grower’s Guide

Season
Okra is vegetable Tropical zone. Best rainy, temperature (20-30 C).

Soil
Can grown in many type soil, Best is sand loam, good irrigation, pH 6.0-6.8 To plough the soil with dry sun 7-10 days To plough the soil deep 20-25 cm. Additional manure or organic rate 0.5-1.0 ton/rai fertilizer 15-15-15 or 16-16-16 rate 35-40 Kg./Rai soil to cover up plot wide 100-120 cm. high 30 cm. / plot.

Agriculture
Plant by seed 3-4 seeds/ hole, space 80-100 cm. 2 row / plot open water in to plot After planted 12-15 days select 1 plant/ hole.

Fertilizer
1. With plough formula 15-15-15 or 16-16-16 rate 35-40 Kg./rai
2. After planted 7-10 days formula 21-0-0 rate 15-20 Kg./rai
3. After 2 time always 15-20 days formula 12-24-12 or 15-15-15 rate 40-45 Kg./rai

Disease Important
Anthracnose, Leaf spot, Pot spot, Yellow mosaic
Insect Important: Cotton Leaf Worm, Thrips, Cotton Leafhopper,White Fly

Maturity
45-55 days.

OKRA FACTS: Hibiscus, or Abelmoschus, esculentus, herbaceous, hairy, annual plant of the mallow family (Malvaceae). It is native to the tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere and is widely cultivated or naturalized in the tropics and subtropics of the Western Hemisphere for its edible fruit. The leaves are heart-shaped and three- to five-lobed; the flowers are yellow with a crimson centre. The fruit or pod, hairy at the base, is a tapering, 10-angled capsule, 10-25 cm (4-10 inches) in length (except in the dwarf varieties), that contains numerous oval, dark-coloured seeds. Only the tender, unripe fruit is eaten.

It may be prepared like asparagus, sauteed, or pickled, and it is also an ingredient in various stews and in the gumbos of the southern United States; the large amount of mucilage (gelatinous substance) it contains makes it useful as a thickener for broths and soups. The fruit is grown on a large scale in the vicinity of Istanbul. In some countries the seeds are used as a substitute for coffee. The leaves and immature fruit long have been popular in the East for use in poultices to relieve pain.