Farmers get profit as okra thriving in Kyauktan village

Farmers are feeling happy as okra (ladies’ fingers) plantations are thriving in Kyauktan Village, Minbu (Sagu) Township, Magway Region, said local farmers.
“Okra is suitable for growers if it grows fast and the pests can be controlled in time. If the plant is good, it can produce 13 to 15 pods per tree and more than 10,000 plants per acre. They can earn more than 800,000 to 900,000 kyats per season,” said Daw Mya Aye, an okra grower in Kyauktan village.
These okra plantations are ploughed in rows and watered seven times to make weeding and spraying easier. Okra is sprayed with pesticides every 10 days, and the fruit begins to bear fruit one and a half months after planting and harvests two months later.
Customers pay 6 kyats per bag of okra, depending on the strength of the plant. It takes three to four months to harvest.
Farmers in Kyauktan village are mainly engaged in agriculture, so they grow okra, cucumbers and other kinds of vegetables.
Vegetables and flowers plantations are grown with groundwater all year round,” okra grower Daw Mya Aye added. —Zeya Htet (Minbu)/ GNLM