Joshua Mugwe was a maize farmer until he came across passion fruit farming on the internet and decided to venture into fruit farming. At that time, he was selling second-hand clothes in Eldoret town and when there no customers he used to do some research about farming on the internet.
“I grew up knowing that maize is the main crop planted in our area. So, it was just natural that I became a maize farmer when I grew up because it does well in our area. I used to plant maize like any other farmer in our area as I sold clothes in town until I discovered passion fruit farming,” says the 42-year-old farmer from Kakitui, Mosop Constituency in Nandi County. He was also engaged in tomato and cabbage farming but on a small scale.
Mugwe decided to venture into passion fruit farming in January last year after he felt that he had garnered enough information and family land was available. “I had sold some maize and together with some savings, I had total cash of Sh91,000. I hired somebody to prepare the land, dig holes and all other things needed when planting passion fruit for the first time. Some poles had to be put around to support the wire that the fruits climb on for support. The money was not enough to do that for the one-acre I started with but I went ahead and planted some 700 seedlings,” says Mugwe.
His first harvest yielded seven kilos, which he sold to a broker in Eldoret at Sh100 per kilo. His aim was to allow the broker to know he was expecting more in the following weeks. His second harvest gave him 15 kilos and from then on it continues increasing.
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“Today I harvest after every two weeks and I get an average of 700kgs of fruits. Sometimes I harvest up to 800kgs. I sell everything to the broker and others,” says Mugwe.
Mugwe says the prices depend on the season but they usually range between Kshs 50-120. After six months I was able to get a loan of Sh100,000 from Equity Bank after they saw my progress which helped me to finish erecting the remaining poles and wire,” he adds.
Some of the challenges he points out in passion fruit farming include lack of enough funds to start. The other one is attack by diseases which he says is solved by proper spraying after every two weeks.
“There is a ready market so that is not an issue. The demand is high and currently, there is a customer who wants me to supply him with two tonnes of passion fruit. I can’t meet his demand but I have already added another 700 seedlings to satisfy my clients,” says Mugwe.
The proceeds from passion fruit farming have enabled him to acquire several plots as he says and also educates his two children who are in secondary school comfortably. He still plants cabbages, tomatoes, and maize on his farm and also keeps some cows.
Mugwe says he has big plans for the future and as he has discovered agriculture pays when taken seriously. He urges other farmers to take it like any other business and invest in it for better results.
“In the future, I intend to have 5 acres under passion fruit and I have already started the journey. I have also been researching on pig keeping and it is also something I want to try. If I have a big pig farm and a big passion fruit farm, I will be a very contented farmer,” he says.
