G. Shanthakumar

Breeding Investigations in Advanced Generation Populations of Bhendi G. Shanthakumar

Bhendi is known by many local names in different parts of the world. For example, it is called ladies finger in England, gumbo in the United States of America and bhendi in India.grown for its tender fruits in tropics, subtropics and warmer parts of temperate region. Okra has several uses. Its fruits can be cooked in a variety of ways. It can be fried in butter or butter oil and cooked with necessary ingredients. They can be boiled and served with soup. The roots and stems of okra are used for clearing the cane juice from which gur or brown sugar is prepared. In some places, the plants are soaked in water and the resulting solution is used as a clarifier in manufacture of jaggery. This fruit vegetable, greatly appreciated in many countries, is used as condiment or binder in sauces. Its nutritional value is sufficient for supplementing an unbalanced diet. A short biological cycle, large and easy to manipulate flowers, autogamous and allogamous mode of reproduction, early and protracted flowering, fruit harvest just three days after flowering, a high added value in the off season are all priori assets for breeding okra.