The sweet yellow passion fruit could soon overtake the once vibrant coffee sector if more farmers embrace its production in the country.
Its farm gate price stands at Sh70 per kilogramme during the peak seasons while those lucky farmers who produce the fruit at off peak seasons can comfortably earn Sh120 per kilogramme.
Perhaps this is what drove Fredrick Njogu Mwoya into being a passion fruit farmer as he continues to uproot his coffee stems to get more space for the profitable crop.
Besides yellow passion fruit farming, Mwoya also engages in the production of the seedlings, selling a single sprout at Sh30. Last year, Mwoya earned Sh350,000 from his half acre piece of land.
He says this season he has planted more seedlings after uprooting a section of his coffee trees which he said are not giving him good returns as compared to the kind of labour and inputs applied.
Mwoya says he is able to comfortably sustain his family and educate his children without much financial struggles as it used to be when he solely relied on coffee for his survival.
“My first born has gone through her form four education while the other one will be joining form three next year and since I have this agribusiness in place, I have nothing to worry about school fees,’’ he says.
Mwoya attributes his accomplishment to a farmer’s field day he attended where he came across the magic fruit on display by a team from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.
He was invited to sample the fruit and from its sugary taste, and the information he received from the staffers, he decided to try it immediately.
“I got even more interested when they offered me half a kilogramme of seeds free of charge,’’ he said.
Mwoya, whose land is near Ithareini market within the vicinity of Kerugoya town, says as long as his fruits are mature, there is ready market from the neighbouring institutions such as Kabere girls high school and the St Andrew’s Theological College.
“The crop only requires a well prepared land, manure and spraying before and after the flowering to ward off some pests and parasites which can cause extensive damage if nothing is done to stop them. I am able to attend to my fruit farm single-handedly while my wife is engaged in other domestic work leading to maximum utilization of time,” Mwoya says.
Source: The Star