Rice farming has created more opportunities for Taraba people, North East Trust finding has revealed.
Hundreds of people, especially the unemployed youths, are making money through the value chain offered by rice farming in the state.
Parboiling, thrashing, local milling processing, bagging and selling of paddy and milled rice are some of the opportunities created by rice farming in the state.
In Jalingo, more rice threshing machines have been installed at different locations and many youths are engaged in local rice processing.
Similar situations are also found in other towns across the state.
Our correspondent found that many youths, including women, in Jalingo, lware, MutumBiyu,Tella, Sabongida, Gareji, Wukari and Takumare now engage in providing boiler service for millers.
The boilers dry the paddy rice before passing it to millers.
Those engaged in this business make an average of N2,500 daily.
Middle men are also making brisk business of buying both paddy and milled rice for sale in other parts of the country, our investigation has revealed.
Aliyu Sarkin Noma, who owns a rice milling company, told North East Trust that apart from processing rice for his company, he also mills for others.
He said most rice found in major cities of the country is processed in the state.
According to him, high demand of local rice in the country has created job opportunities for thousands of people in the state.
Sarkin Noma added that the number of rice farmers has increased in the last three years as well as that of local millers.
Another miller, Musa Abubakar, said more and more people, especially youths, are now taking advantage presented by high demand of local rice to earn a living.
He said the value chain of rice farming is benefiting hundreds of people including women in the state.
Abubakar explained that Taraba State has the vast and fertile land that can produce 70 percent of the total rice required in Nigeria.
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