Passion fruit is known for its high returns and demand for juice formulation. However, do you know the difference between yellow and purple passion fruit as a farmer? How do they behave in different climate conditions? What soil do they perform best in? These are the Best passion fruit varieties.
Yellow Passion Fruits
Yellow passion tends to do well in lower midland and lowland zones that often receive moderate rainfall.
Under good management, it grows more vigorously and produces larger 5-7 cm in diameter fruits. Big fruits mean high production per acre on a weight basis.
This acidic variety is used in juice production. It is cheap to manage as it is resistant to fusarium wilt and highly tolerant to Phytophthora Root Rot, Nematodes, and Brown Spots. Thus, yellow passion is used as a rootstock for purple passion fruit.
You can go for this variety for starters, but first, have done good market research.
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Purple Passion Fruit
Loved for its superior and aromatic flavour, purple passion fruit has received a wide range of acceptance, from the fresh market to juice extraction to export. This high demand has seen the farmgate price of a kilogram of purple passion rise higher than that of yellow passion.
Purple passion fruit grows well in upper midland and upper highland zones that receive high rainfall. Under good management, it can produce fruits of 4-5 cm.
It is not resistant to many diseases, so it is often grafted with yellow passion rootstock.
Both varieties do well in loamy soils, which are deep and well-drained with a pH of 5.5-6.5
Reference: MOALF/SHEP PLUS
