Most Ugandans that are taking on horticulture have little information on the market to sell their produce, passion fruit farmers also lie in this category. Eric Amanyire in Kabarole district in Western Uganda said the limited market for passion fruits in Uganda would force him to quit the business because of the heavy investment only to reap peanuts. “I grow passion here, sometimes I also do other things but in every field; whatever I grow, I get discouraged by the prevailing market prices.” Said, Eric Amanyire – Passion fruit farmer, Kabarole district.

The farmers also got an appeal of a task of exploitation by the middle men and for factories which prefer to use produce from abroad. “The market is also controlled by; am sorry to use this word but it’s controlled by Sharks. These are middle men who press you as a farmer, they squeeze you and they give very small prices and they hold your fruits for a day or two and they sell to another buyer at a slightly better price. Now all this bolds down to one fact; we do not have factories that make juice which are ready to buy from farmers.” Said, Eric Amanyire. Immaculate Nakaweesi an agronomist in Fort Portal town in Western Uganda said farmers do not endeavor to understand and study the market demands in the passion fruit business before investing in it and end up having nowhere to sell their produce. Nakawesi explained that there two varieties of passion fruits which are UPF 4 and KP 4 and a Kawanda hybrid which is a cross between the two local breeds. “This is big, it may produce more pulp than this. Then another reason you can feel that this is harder than this so this is kinder soft. So with durability and maybe the shelf life; this can be better than this.” Said, Immaculate Nakaweesi.

The agronomist said the buyers prefer the small pulped passion fruits because of its taste and flavor. “There is no that bitter taste than this, so this is desirable so when you make your juice you may actually need less sugar to add than this because this one is a bit acidic like.”Said, Immaculate Nakaweesi.

So how can farmers understand the market better? Alex Mukibi, a passion fruit vendor at Busega market in Lubaga Division of Kampala provided some answers. “Juice vendors prefer the bigger type, but customers buying for home use take the smaller ones.”Mukiibi said that through his experience for the last four years people preferred the Kawanda hybrid. “My customers know that I sell the Kawanda hybrid. I know other sellers who have the other types.” A sack of passion fruits ranges from 70,000 to 200,000 shillings depending on the season. “But I gave up on taking the fruits to Owino and Kalerwe markets and these are the best, the biggest national markets that buy fresh fruits.” The farmers want the government to put the focus on passion fruit farming to help them earn more.