Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an important vegetable in Ethiopia due to its nutritional value and culinary uses. However, its production is hindered by several challenges. Key issues include diseases like powdery mildew, fusarium wilt, and viral infections, which significantly reduce yields, and pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and fruit borers that further damage crops. The scarcity of improved okra varieties and insufficient drought management exacerbate these challenges. Farmers' perceptions of okra as a low-value crop affect investment and cultivation practices. Additionally, drought, compounded by poor irrigation infrastructure, poses a severe threat to okra production. Despite these challenges, Ethiopia's diverse agro-climatic conditions and fertile soils in regions like Amhara and Oromia offer favorable environments for cultivating okra, with potential yields reaching up to 20 tons per hectare under optimal management. To overcome these constraints, it is essential to improve disease and pest management, develop and distribute drought-resistant varieties, and educate farmers on better practices. Changing perceptions through awareness and community engagement, coupled with supportive government policies, are crucial for enhancing okra production, thereby improving food security and economic stability for Ethiopian farmers in the future.

Uneven rainfall, in the context of global warming, can cause soil moisture fluctuations (SMFs) that harm crop growth, and it is not yet known whether nitrogen (N) can mitigate the harm caused by a strong SMF. This paper uses okra as a test subject and sets three SMFs of 45-55% FC (W-1), 35-65% FC (W-2), and 25-75% FC (W-3) and three N applications of 0 kg hm(-2) (N-0), 110 kg hm(-2) (N-1), and 330 kg hm(-2) (N-2) to investigate the effects of SMF and N application on the physiological and biochemical aspects of okra. The results demonstrated that okra exhibited the highest values in stem diameter, number of leaves, photosynthesis characteristics, antioxidant enzyme activity, and yield under the N-1 treatment. The average yield in the N-1 treatment was 149.8 g, significantly surpassing the average yields of the N-0 (129.8 g) and N-3 (84.0 g) treatments. Stomatal density, antioxidant enzyme activity, malondialdehyde content, and proline content in okra leaves were highest in the W-3 treatment, indicating that plants experienced stress in the W-3 treatment. However, the agronomic traits and yields of okra in the N-1 treatment were higher than those in the N-0 and N-1 treatments, indicating that the crop damage caused by W-3 could be mitigated by an appropriate amount of N application. The N1W1 treatment emerged as the most suitable combination for okra growth in this study, exhibiting the highest stem diameter, leaf count, photosynthetic characteristics, and yield (201.3 g). Notably, this yield was 67.8% higher than the lowest treatment (N2W3), signifying a significant improvement.

Copper (Cu) stress is a serious problem in contaminated soils that causes significant reduction in okra growth and production. To determine the toxic effect of Cu on okra plant and identify an effective way to mitigate Cu toxicity on okra, seeds of okra were inoculated with Bacillus subtilis and sown with farmyard manure. There were 13 treatments (T-0= Control, T-1= 400 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu, T-2= 400 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis, T-3= 400 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ FYM, T-4= 400 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis+ FYM, T-5= 450 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu, T-6= 450 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis, T-7=450 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ FYM, T-8=450 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis+ FYM, T-9=500 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu, T-10=500 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis, T-11=500 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ FYM, T-12=500 mg kg(-1) of soil Cu+ B. subtilis+ FYM) planned with the complete randomize design (CRD). Results of this research reveal that the okra production and soil physiological properties decreased with the addition of Cu in the soil, this is a new approach for sustainable crop production under Cu stress condition. 500 mg kg(-1) of Cu in the soil have the more negative effect on plant growth but negative effect of Cu can be control with the addition of B. subtilis and FYM. Combine application of B. subtilis and FYM improve the soil properties and plant growth by improving the microbial activities, nutrients availability in the soil and production of growth hormones.

The study addresses the critical issue of water scarcity in agriculture, which causes significant losses by disrupting plant -water connections and increasing oxidative damage to biological components. In this study, we evaluated the synergistic potential of pre -isolated and identified exopolysaccharide-producing strains (ZE15 and ZE11) in combination with the drought -alleviating hormone Brassinosteroids (BR) to boost okra development under PEG -6000 -induced drought stress. The experiment was carried out in a controlled environment at the Soil Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory. It used a completely randomized design with factorial arrangements and three replications. Individual rhizobacterial strains were evaluated and also used in a consortium (ZE15+ZE11) at two different Brassinosteroids (BR) concentrations (10 -4 M and 10 -8 M). The results showed that the consortium of (ZE15+ZE11) with foliar spray of BR (10 -8 M) greatly increased okra production. Under both control and drought stress conditions, shoot length (37 and 34%), root length (41 and 40%), root surface area (32 and 34%), and root volume (35 and 33%) improved significantly compared to the control group. Furthermore, this treatment demonstrated the most promising results in alleviating drought -induced oxidative damage by improving antioxidant defense mechanisms. Key enzyme activities, such as MDA (30 and 31%), GR (32 and 30%), SOD (36 and 37%), and CAT (31 and 34%), rose significantly under both control and drought stress conditions when compared to the control. To summarize, the use of drought -tolerant bacteria in concert with plant growth hormone provides a synergistic approach to mitigating the negative impacts of drought, resulting in considerable gains in okra growth and antioxidant defenses. This technique shows promise as a way to increase agricultural productivity in arid and semi -arid areas.