The passion fruit a perennial crop is farmed for its sweet taste in the tropical and sub-tropical areas.
Passion fruits are very rich in Vitamins A and C which provide the body with key nutrients as it boosts the immune system.
The crop is adaptable to wide agro-ecological zones from low lands to the highlands.
The demand for the fruit on both the local and export market is still unmet.
A Kenya Agricultural Horticulture Research Institute officer Peter Mburu said increased demand makes passion fruit a better agribusiness venture than maize.
Passion fruits are eaten fresh as raw fruits or processed into passion juice.
The passion vines are climbers and produce fruits within a year from planting.
They thrive in altitudes ranging from 1200 to 2000m above sea level and an optimum temperature of 18 to 25 degrees Celsius and require well-drained soils with a PH of 6.0.
Passion varieties include the yellow and purple, the purple is the most ideal for production.
Passion seeds take four weeks to germinate.
The planting land should be well-tilled and fertilizer applied.
Passion crops like a site full sun to partial shade and are grown along the strong trellis, usually erected from wooden poles about 2m high and strong galvanised wires.
Spacing between the rows is maintained at three metres.
Passion fruits can be intercropped with tomatoes and gooseberries.
Passion fruits can easily be grown from seeds, however, Oxfarm Organic recommends vines grafted onto yellow passion fruit rootstock as they have better disease resistance.
The plants should be watered regularly and compost added to ensure good soil fertility.
Grafted passion plants at four months always give the best yields. The crop starts flowering about six months after transplanting.
Weeding should also be done to prevent losing plant nutrients and water competition with weeds.
A farmer should also mulch to suppress weeds, conserve moisture and increase soil fertility.
Regular pruning should be done to improve production and keep the vines healthy.
Side-shoots that develop from the laterals should be removed to keep your vines tidy, easy to harvest and allow good aeration.
Well-kept vines produce fruits for three to five years.
According to Greenlife Crop Protection Africa, common pests that attack passion crops include aphids, mealy bugs, cutworms, fruit fly, mites and scales.
Diseases include fruit and leaf rust, brown spot, fusarium wilt, blight, woodiness and dieback.
A farmer should apply fungicides, insecticides and pesticides to control the diseases and pests.
The yellow variety of passion fruits can be harvested when the skin appears deeply golden, while the purple ones when the skin turns slightly black.
On maturity however, passion fruits when fully ripe usually detach themselves from the plant and a farmer can collect them from the farm.
According to Oxfarm Organic, a kilo of passion fruits can fetch more than Sh100.
Harvesting should preferably be done in the morning.
