Okra Cultivation In Pakistan | Agriproduction marketing

Introduction:

Almost 50 kinds of vegetables, okra being one of them, are grown in the country. Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus L., is a member of the family Malvaceae, which originated from tropical Africa, was grown in Mediterranean region. The wild species of crop were also found in India. Okra occupies an important place in vegetable culture in Pakistan. It is grown in summer season in the entire country and used as a vegetable. However, adoption of improved cultural practices and crop management are the prerequisites for getting higher yields with comparatively low production costs. This is possible only with prior planning based on a sound footing, which includes the use of high quality seed with a known source ensuring genetic purity, proper time of planting, soil preparation and use of balanced fertilizer doses at a reasonably suitable time in line with the recommendations of experts, which is the first leg of planning. On the second leg, the cultural practices, inhibition of weed competition with the crop, pest and disease prior to damage the crop and judging the maturity index before harvesting are required.

All these steps are of utmost importance for having an economically worth-while production of okra. However, the package of production technology, developed at Agriculture Research Institute Mingora, Swat, Pakistan for growing okra crop for fresh and seed production is given below:

Soil and land preparation: 

Okra crop can be grown on almost all types of soils with a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. However, the idle soil is sandy loam, which is preferred for early crop. Higher yields can be obtained from well-drained loamy, clay-loam, silt loam soils containing adequate organic matter. Poorly drained heavy soils are not suitable for okra cultivation.Ploughing must be avoided when the soil is too wet, otherwise large clods will be formed in heavier soil. Plough the soil when it is in proper moisture conditions. A simple test to know the moisture condition is that the soil should be pressed in hand, if it crumbles, it is fit to plough. But if it retains the form, the land is too wet. The land should be ploughed 3-4 times. Planking should follow the ploughing.

Seed rate:

Seed rate depends upon inter and intra-row spacing in the field for any crop. Seed and varietal choice is the first step in the production planning of a crop. If it is of good quality and true to type, a good crop can be obtained. Special care must be exercised in selecting variety and seed. About 20 Kg seed is enough to plant one hectare land. 

Time and method of sowing:

For okra production, seed is sown in the month of April on plain beds having no clods, pebbles and extra material. The bed is then leveled so that extra irrigation and rainfall water automatically runs-off out of the field. Seed is planted on lines 2-3 cm deep. The seed is planted and line is covered with soil. Row to row distance is kept 75 cm and plant to plant 15 cm.

Fertilizer requirements:

Farm Yard   and green manures are suitable for improving soil structure, water holding capacity and increasing aeration. Well rotten and dry animal manure, if available, should be applied at the rate of 20-30 ton per hectare during land preparation in order to get high yield. Green manuring is also a good source of adding nutrition to the field. A suitable crop should be planted when the fields remains fallow for some time. It should be ploughed and well mixed in the field before flowers initiation. Generally, the application of balanced fertilizers plays a vital role in getting higher yields for almost every crop. Fertilizers are broadcast prior to sowing and mixed in soil through ploughing. Okra crop is highly responsive to fertilizers. During the experimentation, application of NPK fertilizers @ 140:120:100 Kgs/ha will increase crop yield. For better results, full quantity of phosphorous and potash and half quantity of nitrogen should be applied prior to sowing. The remaining half dose of urea should be applied with first weeding, hoeing and earthing up. 

Irrigation:

Initially, the crop planted on sandy soil is irrigated after 7 days. When the plants attain certain size, then irrigation is done after 10 days or according to the requirement. Over irrigation must be avoided as it helps spreading the disease in the crop. However, first irrigation is given just after germination to make the germination of the seed complete and then the field is irrigated after 7 to 10 days in hot part of the season or as required.

Weeding and hoeing:

This is important inter-cultural operation, which is done to break the soil crust and to keep the plots free from weeds. But this field operation should be done in dry season. Weeds, as old as the evolution of crops, have evolved parallel with the latter. Weeds are excellently adapted to the prevailing environment and divert energy from a direction desired by man. Weed control is vital to producing high quality okra as the crop competes poorly with weeds, which can drastically reduce yield and quality. Weeds competition reduces the amount of water, nutrients, light okra receives and provides opportunity to insects and diseases to breed and groom in it, which attack the crop. Traditionally weed control is done manually. With weeds eradication, hoeing is also done and the soil is left for 2-3 days to get dried in the sun light. The remaining half of the urea (nitrogen) is applied during earthing up. The irrigation is given to the crop after 3-4 days.

Pest control

Diseases: Generally the okra crop faces many hazards in Pakistan. Among them, powdery mildew disease is the most damaging one, as it inflicts severe losses on the crop and consequently on the farmers economically, if this attacks the crop at early stage. The incidence of the disease can be reduced substantially with effective use of various management practices. In this regards, fungicides; Aliatte or Ridomil Gold @ of 2.5 to 3 gram/litre of water are recommended and the spray should be repeated after one week. 

Insects: A wide range of insects attack okra crop in the field. But aphids and jassids are very common. As these insects appear on the crop, it should immediately be sprayed with Lorsban or  Karate @ of 2.5-3.0 ml and the spray is again repeated after one week.

Picking, packing and packing material

Okra pods are immature fruits and are harvested when they are very rapidly growing. Okra should be harvested when the fruit is bright green, the pod is fleshy and seeds are small. After that period, the pod becomes pithy and tough, and the green color and mucilage contents decrease. Flowering begins from 40 to 45 days after sowing and fruits are ready for harvest four to seven days after flowering. Okra pods may be harvested continuously at every alternate day. The young fruits can be harvested in the morning. Delay in harvesting may make the fruits fibrous and they lose their tenderness and taste.

Seed production:

The seed production technology for okra is almost the same as its fresh production technology. However, the growth of the seed plants remains a bit stunted because the fruits are left on the plant till maturity of the seed. The main symptom of the maturity of seed crop is that the fruit gets brown colour, which is the sign that the fruits are ready to harvest. More care has to be done while growing the seed crop; specially the vigour of the plant may be maintained and diseases and insects should be kept controlled.  Fruits are harvested, dried in the sun light, threshed and cleaned manually.