KRISHIDARSHAN - BHINDA NI KHETI PADDHATI LIVE T/C:-22/06/2022

BHINDANI KHETI PADDHATI LIVE T/C:-22/06/2022
SYNOPSIS: Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) belonging to malvaceae family commonly known as the lady's fingers is an important vegetable crop grown for its green tender fruits which are used as a vegetable in a variety of ways. It is rich in vitamins, calcium, potassium and other minerals matter. It can be fried and cooked with necessary ingredients. The tender fruit can be cut into small pieces, boiled and served with soup. Matured fruit and stems containing crude fibre are used in the paper industry. Okra is commonly referred to as Lady’s finger, gumbo, bamieh, quin gumbo with origin being India. Okra can be grown on wide range of soils, but well drained fertile soils with adequate organic matter result to high yield. Okra is generally cultivated both for commercial scale and in kitchen gardens in kharif and summer season. In India, the okra growing states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In Gujarat, main okra growing districts are Surat, Tapi, Navasari, Vadodara, Baruch, Banaskantha, Anand, Keda and Mahesana. Okra is a multipurpose crop due to its various used of the fresh leaves, buds, flowers, pods, stems and seeds. Immature fruits can be used in salads, soups and stews. The mucilage has medicinal applications when used as a plasma replacement or blood volume expander and also binds to cholesterol and bile acid carrying toxins dumped into it by the liver. Seeds of okra are source of oil and protein where seeds have been used on small scale for oil production and they are roasted and ground to form non-caffeinated substitute for coffee. Okra crop is susceptible to at least 19 different virus diseases throughout the world pose serious constraints to its production. Among them, YVMV & OELCV (okra enation leaf curl virus) transmitted by white fly Bemisia tabaci is an emerging serious disease which can cause significant yield losses ranging from 30 to 100 % depending upon the age of the plant at the time of infection. It is advised to grow Gujarat Anand Okra 5 and Gujarat Anand Okra 8 (Anand Komal) for getting better yield and resistance against such diseases. Okra has obtained a prominent position among export oriented vegetable crops because of its high nutritive value and prolonged shelf life as compared to other vegetables. Gujarat is the important state for export potentiality of okra due to cargo facilities available at International Airport Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The market consumers prefer dark green colour pods even paying 10-15 % higher price over the light green coloured pods. This will help to the farmers to get the higher price in market by growing dark green pod coloured Okra.