Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station(TSIPS) has carried out a seed breeding cooperation project with the World Vegetable Center-WorldVeg(AVRDC). There are about 30 okra accessions collected by the AVRDC from all over the world participating in this project. It is a new opportunity for tropical vegetable crop research and breeding.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an annual or perennial herb of the Malvaceae family. Okra is suitable growing in warm, and it is tolerates heat and drought environment. The main production areas in Taiwan are Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi, etc. The main production season is from April to September. Okra is a very good antioxidant and anti-aging vegetable which is rich in vitamin A, vitamin B complex, vitamin E, beta carotene, calcium, magnesium, potassium and water-soluble fiber pectin.

Pingtung Seed and Seeding Research Center of TSIPS(TSSPT) is located in the sunny southern Taiwan. It is the base for the experimental research of tropical crops. Okra is a tropical crop that is suitable propagation in Pingtung area. TSSPT will Build basic data from these seed sources collected from different environments. In the future, TSSPT will be towards disease resistance, heat resistance traits and the development of healthy food care plants as follow-up development.

Diseases increase due to the climate change. Therefore, the researches related to tropical crop seed (seedling) propagation and production technologies, seed source collection and variety tests are more and more important. The seed breeding project by TSIPS cooperation with AVRDC can not only be updated and propagated but also enrich the seed source bank for okra breeding.

▲Fig. 1. Development process of okra fruit.

▲Fig. 2. Fruit colors and flower types.