Lady Finger (Okra) Origin History and Cultivation Method

 

Okra or Okro Abelmoschus esculentus, generally known as ladies' fingers is a flowering plant belonging to the mallow family. The outputs or production of okra are used as vegetables and it is also a big source of foods in summers. Okra or Vegetable plant is cultivated in tropical or subtropical and warm regions around world.

Geographical origin of this plant is disputed and South Asian, Ethiopian and West African support as originating countries of this vegetable.

Egyptians and later communities of 12th and 13th centuries used Arabic word for this plant as bamya. They revealed that this plant had come to Egypt from Arabia, but formerly it was maybe taken from Ethiopia to Arabia. The historian say that lady finger entered southwest Asia across Red Sea straight to the Arabian Peninsula, rather than north across Sahara, or entered from India. Historian also say that this plant was transported Spanish who visited Egypt during 1216 and they described this vegetable plant under farming by locals. The plant spread from Arabia around shores of Mediterranean Sea and eastward. This plant was introduced to America by ships plying Atlantic slave trade during 1658. In these days, presence of this plant was also recorded in Brazil. Okra (Ladyfinger was further recognized in Suriname during 1686. It is revealed that okra was introduced to southeastern North America from Africa during early 18th century. It was being grown as far north as Philadelphia during 1748. Thomas Jefferson had said this plant was well established and cultivated in Virginia during 1781. Following table shows the ranking of top ten countries producing okra (lady finger) in which India is at top within the world whereas Pakistan is at 5^th position.

Region or Country	Ladyfinger Production (Tons)	Production per Individual (Kg)	Cultivation in acreage	Harvest per Acre (Kgs)
India	5,507,000	4.121	485,000	11,354.6
Nigeria	1,978,286	10.022	1,463,436	1,351.8
Sudan	287,300	7.042	26,754	10,738.6
Mali	241,033	12.614	21,488	11,217.1
Pakistan	117,961	0.584	15,584	7,569.5
Côte d'Ivoire	112,966	4.536	41,035	2,752.9
Cameroon	90,780	3.815	33,377	2,719.8
Ghana	66,360	2.241	3,160	21,000
Egypt	57,721	0.592	5,033	11,467.4
Malaysia	55,856	1.71	3,692	15,128.9

Species of okra are perennial and cultivated on annual basis in moderate climate areas, growing to approximately 6.6 ft tall. Leaves of this plant are 3.9 to 7.9 inches long and broad. Species are lobed with 5-7 lobes. Flowers of the plant are grown before growing fruits having 1.6 to 3.1 inch diameter. They flowers have five white to yellow petals, with red or purple spot at base of each petal. Fruits of this plant are like a capsule up to 7.1 in long with pentagonal cross-section containing many seeds inside.

Okra is cultivated throughout warm areas of world due to its fibrous fruits which contain white seeds. This vegetable among the most hot and drought accepting vegetable species in world and accepts soils with heavy clay specified soil and irregular moisture, but cool season can damage fruits. The seeds of this plant are buried in soil upto depth of 0.39 to 0.79 for cultivation.  Growth of seeds prefers to soil temperature upto 20 °C which occurs between six days and three weeks.  Fruits rapidly become tough and woody which are edible as vegetable. These pods should be harvested during immature stage. Lady finger is cultivated in two varieties i.e. green and red. Both varieties have same flavor, however green okra is more popular moreover, the red okra pods are also turned into green after cooked.

Products of this plant are mucilaginous which result into slime when the this vegetable is cooked.  The vegetable contains 90% water,7% carbohydrates and 2% proteins. Okra fruits are mostly cooked in all over the world. Moreover, It is used in some areas as pickle as well as eaten raw as salads.

Common disease affecting okra plant is verticillium wilt which causes plants to yellow and drying of its leaves. Another diseases infect this plant is powdery fungus which occurs in dry and hot areas which affect leaf spots, and root-knots