Hi Giddy,
I'm really a starter at this. We are on a 50/50 partnership with my dad who does most of the ground work. Myself,I provide funds most of the time. I planted the Avacadoes this year.....then the others came as an after thought since the Avacadoes take around 2Yrs....so we figured we could do something in the meanwhile.
As for your question on fair returns and land size...this is all relative. Our kashamba is just like 3 acres in Nyeri. Passion fruits are not the main fruit tree.....we are doing it to utilize the land while Avacadoes grow.We planted around 400 passion tree seedlings last month. The major challenge is availability of water,getting grafted seedlings ( a variety that will be resistant to fungus while young) and also getting reliable info since we are starting as well.
The passions should flower and produce fruit kitu 9months from now. Now to the best of my knowledge ( I stand to be corrected)....individuals are not really allowed to export fruit without going through the liscensed exporters. This is supposedly to ensure that there is a form of quality control for fresh export produce in Kenya. The companies here are mostly owned by Indians and big connected Kenyans.
I once watched a documentary on TV on a farmer in Embu who was doing this passion fruit thing on a very big scale....very inspirational. He said that he was getting around 50kg of fruit/tree/year. He would sell each Kg at 50sh. He had really really invested in it though......and it needs constant care and supervision....weekend visits might not be enough unless you have a manager.
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Formally employed people often live their employers' dream & forget about their own.