There are some farmers in Nyeri claiming to be selling persimmon (Sharon) fruit and seedlings. This is a con and hoax. Let me explain.

The plant they are selling, which is obviously from the Solanaceae family is not an Israeli persimmon also called Sharon fruit. It is a variety of the diverse eggplant family – red varieties or the gilo group.

The lie is coming out at a time when most of those farmers who bought the seedlings very expensively (including myself) cannot find any market for it as the market has also realized it was a hoax.

It doesn’t have any nutritional qualities of true persimmon. It’s just an edible (but very bitter) eggplant variety which should not be eaten raw.

Persimmon fruit is species of TREES in the genus Diospyros. The ripe fruit of the cultivated strains ranges from light yellow-orange to dark red-orange depending on the species and variety. See more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon

Calls to KARLO research centre in Thika has confirmed no such plant has reached their research facility.

A simple Google search for Isreali persimmon easily reveals that these guys are cons. There are many websites showing different types of eggplants that are related to what I call the “Nyeri Persimmon” eg. http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/new/Sorting/CATALOGUE/Pt1-African-eggplants.html

Various media houses have been hoodwinked into buying the persimmon ‘cure all’ hoax. I hope they will be brave enough to own up and accept they played a major role in the hoax.

Kenyans let us be more careful and not too trusting with our money. What is your experience with ‘persimmon’ farming and marketing? Where is this “huge market for medicinal persimmon?”

This is so sad coming even before Kenyans have fully recovered from the QUAIL hoax. I know most other new high-end crops are genuine but the common man is left wondering who to trust!
#TheGreatPerssimonLIE #TheNyeriPerssimon

BY Janes Kamau || SOURCE: Standard Media