Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, has tasked Ofada Rice farmers in the State to step up the Ofada brand to improve its market visibility and acceptability both locally and globally.
Olusanya gave the charge at the Ofada Rice Day Symposium which was put together by the Ministry and Ofadaboy as part of activities lined up to mark this year’s World Food Day in the State, with the theme; ‘Repositioning the Brand for Local and International Markets’.
Ofada rice is named after the town Ofada, in Ogun state, south- west Nigeria where its cultivation has reportedly occurred first. It is purported to have been smuggled by a soldier into Nigeria when the soldier returned from Asia and planted the rice in Ofada.
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The rice is typically priced higher compared to other available rice and is regarded as a festive meal rather than an everyday type of food for most Nigerians, being mostly served at classy parties.
The commissioner who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Hakeem Adeniji, pointed out that the acceptability of Ofada rice has been hindered by the method of processing and packaging which results in stones in the rice with a pungent smell as a result of fermentation during parboiling (soaking).
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She noted that in order to achieve standard processing, the Ofada must be organic and its grains should be odourless, homogeneous, free from impurities and appropriately packaged.
According to her, the theme of the symposium is in tandem with the theme of this year’s World Food Day, ‘Our Actions are our Future: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life’, adding that these themes focus on ways to ensure that a variety of sufficient, nutritious and safe foods are available at affordable prices to the citizenry.
