Whistling as he arrived majestically from his farm to the frontyard of a brownish 18th century-looking house, Mr Adio Afolabi smiled widely, dwelling briefly in the warm embrace of his wife who had prepared him a dish of hot amala (yam flour) and okra soup and patiently awaited his return from the farm.
He settled into a long wooden chair and stool, washed his right hand in a small blue bowl of water and gulped down the seemingly mountainous food awaiting him. He must have been famished, for he finished the food in no time. After devouring the food and emptying a jug of water fetched from a large pot in the corner of a dark passage, Afolabi handed over some money to his wife, instructing her to keep it in his room.
This is definitely a good time for the rice farmer, who resided in Asaya Baala, Ofada, a town known for Ofada rice cultivation in Ogun State.
On a sunny Tuesday morning when our correspondent visited him in the community, Afolabi sang multiple choruses. Evidently, the harvest was not only good this year, but he also had better sales, unlike last year.
He said, “This morning, three rice vendors called me to ask if they could get bags of Ofada rice from me, but I had sold all my stock. I had to refer them to other rice farmers.”
Afolabi said every year, he usually planted Ofada rice on four acres of farmland, harvesting several tonnes at the end of the planting season. However, he had never sold as much quantity of rice as he had in 2019 so far.
Disclosing the reason for the increased sales, he said it was due to the border closure by the Federal Government.
“Sales have been on the upward side since the borders were closed. The situation this time round is different from last year’s,” said Afolabi, who had been into rice farming for 19 years.
