2. Submitted To : Dr. B.R. Patel
Research Scientist
Department of Biotechnology A.A.U. ,Anand - Gujarat
Submitted By: Sangram Singh
Ph.D. SST
Reg No.-04-2188-2013
Dept. of GPB , A.A.U. ,Anand - Gujarat
3. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) is commonly known
as‘bhendi’ or lady’s finger in 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. Andhra
Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are
important okra producing states.
In India, it is grown in an area of 0.36 million hectares with annual
production of 3.5 million tonnes and productivity of 9.72 tonnes per
hectare.
Okra belongs to family Malvaceae with 2n=8x=72 or 144
chromosomes and is polyploidy in nature.
There are 30 species under genus Abelmoschus in the old world and
four in the new world. Out of them Abelmoschus esculentus is the
only species known to be cultivated extensively. It is self pollinated
crop, occurrence of out crossing to an extent of 20 per cent by insects
has made an often cross-pollinated crop, which renders considerable
genetic diversity.
4. The green tender fruits of okra are highly nutritious containing 66 mg
of calcium and 0.2 mg of iodine for every 100 g of edible portion and
fair amount of vitamins viz., A, B and C.
The most productive and desirable hybrid seed obtained from the
female parent when there is a perfect coincidence of stigma
receptiveness and pollen viability.
Obviously, time of pollination plays a crucial role in hybrid seed
production of bhendi. Since bhendi is a mainly often cross pollinated
crop, pollination is done usually on the day of flower opening itself
and can be continued till noon hours, though peak anthesis is seen at
8.30am to 10.30 am.
But success rate of pollination varies from 30 to 50 per cent in bhendi
hybrid seed production since transfer of male pollens to the female
flowers during crossing period is the most sensitive aspect in large
scale production.
5. The viable pollens deposited early on stigma may lead to poor seed
setting due to non receptive stigma and similar is the case if pollens
are deposited very late on stigma due to drying of stigma and loss of
pollen viability.
In addition to this, the amount of F1 hybrid seed is also decided by the
quantity of the male pollens depositing on the receptive stigma of the
female parent.
In case, if more pollens are deposited on the stigma, there may be
more chances of poor seed setting due to competition between
germinating pollens. Similar is the case with deposition of inadequate
viable pollens. The quantity of pollens depositing on stigma can be
manipulated by adjusting the crossing ratio of female to male flower.
Therefore, time of pollination and ratio between female to male flower
crossing is to be optimized to get increased seed set and yield in
female parent of bhendi. However, research work pertaining to time of
pollination and crossing ratio between male and female flowers is
very meagre and inconclusive.
6. Land requirement : Select field on which bhendi crop was not grown
in the previous season, unless the crop was of the same variety and
certified. Field should be free from wild bhendi (Abelmoschus sp.)
The land was brought to the fine tilth by ploughing with mould board
plough and repeated blade harrowing after the harvest of previous
crops. The plots were laid out by fixing wooden pegs at all corners of
the plots.
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
7. 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.
Seed rate : Varieties : 8-10 kg/ha
Hybrids : 8 kg/ha (Female)
4 kg/ha (Male)
Planting ratio: For hybrid seed production, female and male parents
are normally planted in the ratio of 8:1in Block system.
Thinning: The thinning operation was carried out by removing weak
and diseased plants and maintaining only one healthy and vigorous
seedling per hill.
8. Weeding and inter cultivation: 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.
Manuring: Apply 12.5 tons of FYM/ha before ploughing. Apply
150:75:75 kg NPK/ha, of which 50% of the N should be applied as
top dressing in two split doses at flowering and 10 days later.
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.
9. Irrigation
The protective irrigations of 5-6 were given during the
experimental period depending upon the weather condition.
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.
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
10. 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
11. INSECT/PESTS OF OKRA
i) Shoot and fruit bore: (Earias sp)
ii) Fruit Borer: (Helicoverpa armigera)
22. Materials required for emasculation and pollination
For emasculation of flower bud, forceps and needles are required, while plastic
container, pollen ring, scissors and brush are needed for pollen extraction from anthers and for
pollination work.
Hand emasculation
The removal of androecium (stamens) from bisexual flower is called as emasculation.
The buds opened next day, were selected in female parent and emasculation was carried out by
removing the androecium along with the corolla. These emasculated buds were covered with
butter paper pockets to avoid cross pollination and also for easy identification of emasculated
flower for pollination. The emasculation was carried out daily from 2-00 to 6-00 pm (Plate 3).
Care was also taken to remove the unemasculated flowers as per treatment and during
emasculation to avoid genetic contamination in the crossed ones.
Hand emasculation and Hand pollination
24. The transfer of pollen from male parent to female parent is called as pollination. The
just opened flowers were picked from the male parent in a separate brown paper pockets and used
for crossing of emasculated flowers.
One male flower was used to pollinate four, six, eight and ten female emasculated buds
as par the treatments and after crossing different colour thread was tied to the pedicel of the
crossed buds for easy identification of the crossed bud. Pollination was carried out daily between
8-00 am to 4-00 pm depending upon the treatments (Plate 4). The crossing was carried out for a
period of eight weeks from the initiation of flowering. The buds and flowers that appeared
subsequently after the stopping of crossing programme were manually removed to facilitate
better development of the crossed fruits and to avoid the selfed seeds in the hybrid.
Pollination
25. Taja:-
Taja offers fruits of exceptional quality with good yield. The first
picking starts from 45 – 47 days after sowing and the fruits are
slender,shiny dark green in colour. The fruits also keep well for 12-15
days. The hybrid is moderately tolerant to Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus.
Nazuk:-
Nazuk is a high yielding hybrid with moderate tolerance to Yellow Vein
Mosaic Virus. The first picking starts from 45-50 days and the fruits are
tender, dark green, 12 – 14 cm long.
Some okra hybrid variety
26. Purna:-
Purna is highly tolerant to Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus(YVMV) disease.
The hybrid is a high yielder with shorter internodes and produces long (13 cm),
green, five ribbed fruits and is suitable for cultivation across the country.
Jaya:-
Jaya is a high yielding, tall vigourous hybrid. The fruits are medium
long green, tender with five ridges. It is tolerant to Yellow Vein Mosaic
Virus(YVMV) and can be grown all over India.
Subha:-
An early high yielding hybrid, with tall plants, medium branching and
narrow leaves. The first fruit matures in 38 – 40 days. The fruit are dark green,
tender, of medium girth, 18 – 20 cm in length, five ribbed, smooth and with
good keeping quality. This hybrid is tolerant to Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus
(YVMV) disease.
27. Arka Anamika:-
A Government Notified Variety and is recommended for all India
cultivation. The fruits are 15 – 20 cm long, lush green, cylindrical
tapering with light reddish shades, coarse surface with 5 ridges. It is a
good yielder.
Dhaanya Selection Saloni:-
Saloni is a high yielding, moderately tolerant to yellow vein
mosaic virus variety and is recommended for all India cultivation. The
fruits are long, tender, and green with five ridges.
Hybrids:CO2 (AE 180XPUSASEWANI)CO3 (PRABHARIKRANTI
X MDU1),Mahyco hybrid, Shoba and Prabhanikranti.
Varieties : Co.1, MDU.1, Parbhani Kranti, Arka Anamika, Pusa A-4,
Pusa Sawani