Man finds his true passion in farming
Elisha Lang'at inspects passion fruits in his farm in Bomet. He sells his produce at Sh90 per kilogramme to Diakim Fresh Limited, which exports it. PHOTO | PETER CHANGTOEK | NMG
What you need to know:
- He grows the fruits and sells to a company that exports the produce to Europe and other markets.
- Currently, he harvests between 200kg and 250kg a week, but has to grapple with diseases such as dieback and pests like thrips and aphids.
- According to the farmer, the crop takes six to eight months to mature.
- Farming the crop is not a difficult task, according to him.
Bomet County is famous for maize and tea farming, but for Elisha Lang’at, passion fruits offer the best bet.
He grows the fruits and sells to a company that exports the produce to Europe and other markets. “I started passion fruit farming three years ago on 0.3 acres. Currently, I am farming on 0.7 acres,’’ says the farmer based at Teganda village.
He was introduced to passion fruits by a friend who had attended a farmers’ field day in Konoin. “I became interested and I started with 210 seedlings, of which 180 survived,’’ reveals Lang’at, noting he spent Sh10,000 as seed capital.
Lang’at, who depends on rainfall, grows the purple and sweet yellow varieties. After preparing the land, he plants the seedlings using organic manure. “I always use manure from cows and goats. Sometimes I top dress with inorganic fertiliser,’’ says the farmer, who apart from growing the crop, also farms Hass avocados, tree tomatoes as well as potatoes.
Currently, he harvests between 200kg and 250kg a week, but has to grapple with diseases such as dieback and pests like thrips and aphids. “I have 180 plants from which I am harvesting and 300 which I planted recently,’’ says the father of one.
Lang’at sells his produce at Sh90 to Diakim Fresh Limited, which exports. He adds that the company, which has its headquarters in Nairobi, has an agronomist in the area, who guides the farmers on how to apply chemicals on the plants.
According to the farmer, the crop takes six to eight months to mature. Birds, he says, are sometimes a challenge. “They destroy flowers, reducing production, so I employ someone to scare them away manually,’’ says the 41-year-old.
Farming the crop is not a difficult task, according to him. “My advice to whoever wants to grow passion fruits is that they should manage pests and grow the plant as advised by the agronomist.’’
Prof Richard Mulwa, a horticulture expert from Egerton University, says that passion fruits can be propagated from seeds, but a farmer will get high yields if he uses grafted seedlings.
“Yellow passion fruit is best for production of rootstock because of superior disease resistance while purple is good for fruit production.’’ The crop is planted in a spacing of 2 metres from one row to the other and 3 metres from one plant to the other.
After planting, the crop flowers after seven months. He adds that excess rainfall is not good since it causes poor fruit set and encourages diseases.
