By Nelson Omoya
For the past two years, Jenipher Atim has ventured in mixed faming on her four acre piece land in Omee II village, Acwera parish, Amuru Sub County in Amuru district.
Atim migrated from Apaa village following numerous land wrangles between the Acholi in Amuru and the Madi from Adjumani district and finally acquired land in Omee II.
She has planted a number of fruit varieties including Jackfruits, Avocado, mangoes, pawpaw and bananas among others. She is also into Apiary and horticulture.
However, Atim says one item that has kept her financial stability over the years has been a unique passion fruit variety only known as the Giant Granadilla fruit that she has in her backyard. Not known to many except for a few who have managed to either buy the fruit from her or got the seedlings which she has been distributing to some interested locals in the area.
The passion fruit which bears oval-shaped fruits and big to the size of a pawpaw goes for between Shs 3000 – Shs 5000 in a village market.
Atim claims that she got the seeds of the passion fruit from her grandfather while she was saying at her ancestral home in Otwal village in present day Oyam district and she has been carrying it to wherever location she moves to.
As a way of protecting her precious fruit from vandalism and theft by locals in here area, she has decided to distribute seeds and seedlings to interested locals so they can plant in their homes.
She notes that the fruit does not only have a wide range of health benefits to humans but also has a very attracting scent and can be either consumed as afruit or made in juice form. When consumed, the pulp of the fruit is said to help in curing maladies like headache, diarrhea, asthma, nervousness and dysentery among others.
Atim says the plant bears fruits four times in a year with each plant earning her an average of Shs300,000 per year.
Going by a rough calculation, Atim could be earning at least Shs3000,000 every year from just 10 plants of the fruit and yet it doesn’t require much attention in terms of weeding or other specialized agronomic practices.
She plans on planting more on part of her four acre piece of land.
About the variety
Giant Granadilla fruit belongs to passion fruit species, binomial name for Granadilla is Passiflora quadrangularis.
Large leaves hang from stems that are quadrangular in cross section, hence its botanical name. It produces the most enormous fruits of all of the passion fruits.
Although its origin still remains unclear to many, the fruit is believed to have originated from South America (likely Brazil). Other theories say the plant was first discovered on the Caribbean Islands and later naturalized in Southeast Asia and. many other countries.
