Okra: Status, Challenges and Opportunities

This edited book covers all aspects of Okra and its global status. It includes general characteristics, classification, and description of various domains affecting crop improvement, such as the latest trends in breeding, genomics and molecular marker development, biotic and abiotic stress, nutritional quality aspects, seed production, and the export and market expansion scenario of Okra. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) is an important vegetable crop grown throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In the last five years, okra has gained recognition as a global crop due to its nutritional values being recognized by consumers. The global seed requirement is expected to reach 6000 MT by 2030, making it a $300 million crop soon. This book compiles extensive knowledge on various aspects of okra, such as crop improvement, agronomy, seed production, and global market status, under the aegis of Foundation for Advanced Training in Plant Breeding (ATPBR). This book is designed for breeders, pathologists, biotechnologists, seed production specialists, market managers, graduate and post-graduate students, and other stakeholders associated with okra crop improvement or market development from both the public and private sectors. It serves as an excellent guide for crop scientists and students working on okra around the globe, helping to generate ideas for formulating public-private collaborative research for future innovation in the crop.