By Bob Aston
Starting an orchard has always been hard for most farmers as the duration that it takes for some fruits to mature is long. Despite this factor Francis Kinyanjui, a resident of Leleshwa B, Sipili Division in Laikipia County decided to venture into yellow passion farming and was not discouraged by the long wait.
Kinyanjui was initially concentrating
on purple passion but the high growing cost and the fact that they are susceptible
to various diseases made him to rethink its viability.
He decided to research and find out if he can graft them or if he can plant a different variety. It was during this period that he came to learn of a new variety called yellow passion which had been released by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
Kinyanjui is set to harvest for the
first time by the end of June. He has already started harvesting some fruits
and every day he is capable of getting 2 kilos.
He says that lack of water has been a
big challenge as some of the fruits have dried while the quality of fruits
produced has reduced as he has been unable to get enough water to irrigate the
plants. This challenge prompted him to invest in a 20 litres water pump. He now
expects the problem of water to reduce.
Starting an orchard has always been hard for most farmers as the duration that it takes for some fruits to mature is long. Despite this factor Francis Kinyanjui, a resident of Leleshwa B, Sipili Division in Laikipia County decided to venture into yellow passion farming and was not discouraged by the long wait.
Kinyanjui started growing yellow
passion in 2012. He was scheduled to harvest for the first time last year but
elephants destroyed all the trees. This did not deter him from pursuing his
business venture and thus he decided to grow the fruits afresh.
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| Kinyanjui at his farm |
He decided to research and find out if he can graft them or if he can plant a different variety. It was during this period that he came to learn of a new variety called yellow passion which had been released by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
“I learned that the yellow passion is
high yielding, is resistant to Fusarium wilt and is tolerant to phytophthora
root rot, nematodes, brown spot and woodiness virus and more important they cut growing cost by half
compared to the purple passion,” said Kinyanjui.
He has planted over 100 vines in a
half an acre piece of land though he says the land can accommodate more than
300 plants. He expects each vine to yield 30 kg of fruits per year.
“Yellow passion yields more juice
than the purple passion fruit. The fruit has a high acidity content and strong
flavour,” said Kinyanjui.
Kinyanjui says that the yellow passion
is a perennial plant which matures inside nine months and can be harvested four
times a year, depending on the availability of rain or irrigation water. The
vine has a lifespan of about 5-7 years. Carefully tended sweet yellow passion
fruit vine will grow to a length of over 20 meters, after the first 4-5 months
of transplanting.
“Lower growing cost of yellow passion
ensures that one can realize higher profits,” said Kinjanjui.
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| Kinyanjui looking at some of the crops in the farm |
“The fruits normally drop to the
ground when they are fully mature. I have already started harvesting some but I
expect to harvest a lot of the fruits by end of June,” said Kinyanjui.
He says that the yellow passion does
well in hot regions like Sipili as the plant grows a deep root system making it
resistant to effects of low soil moisture.
Besides the yellow passion he is also
growing several fruits that include; Purple passion, macadamia, pineapples,
oranges, guavas, passion fruits, tree tomatoes, custard apple, mangoes,
bananas, apples, pawpaw, avocado, strawberry, grapes, plums, pears, thorny
melon and loquat.
He has also planted cabbages, kales, pumpkins,
sun flower and cassava. He has also kept rabbits.
“Yellow passion farming is a good
economic opportunity that has not yet been fully exploited. One is capable of
improving his livelihood through it,” said Kinjanjui.
He has a fruit nursery where he has
kept various varieties of seedlings. He has been selling seedlings between Ksh
20- Ksh 200 depending on type of fruit seedling required by a farmer. He has
been grafting his own fruits before transplanting.
Kinyanjui has been a frequent visitor
of Ng’arua Maarifa Centre. He has been visiting the centre to read agricultural
publications and also to seek for advisory services.
During one of the visits he was introduced
to Sokopepe Ltd. Since then he has been using Sokopepe to get market
information and also query market prices. He now plans to use it to get market
for his yellow passion.
“Sokopepe has been connecting
producers with buyers and I hope that I will be able to sell my produce through
Sokopepe once I harvest all my produce,” said Kinyanjui.
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| Kinyanjui collecting some mature passion |
Destruction of the plants by elephants
has also been a concern to him as he has lost several plants.
“I used to get close to Ksh 500,000
per year from my orchard before elephants destroyed my fruits. I had to start
afresh by planting fruits. Some have not yet matured but I expect by end of
next year all the fruits will be mature,” said Kinyanjui.
To increase his earnings he is
planning to add value to his produce through making juice instead of just
selling the fruits."Yellow passion farming requires someone who is patient and dedicated as they take a long time to grown.Fruits like mangoes and avocadoes take more than two years to mature," said Kinyanjui.
Yellow passion farming requires someone who is patient and dedicated as they take a long time to grow.Fruits like mangoes and avocadoes take more than two years to mature," said Kinyanjui.
Yellow passion farming requires someone who is patient and dedicated as they take a long time to grow.Fruits like mangoes and avocadoes take more than two years to mature," said Kinyanjui.
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