MOCO Moco Village, in Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) created history in September last when the farmers’ group there harvested its first rice crop and progress with rice has since continued.
According to General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, some 28 hectares of rice has been sown and will be harvested next week.
“Moco Moco has done well with the rice crop and we are expecting that trend to continue,” Seeraj said.

The first rice harvest in Moco Moco

Along with rice, the community has also planted several acres of beans.
The launch of the Rice/Beans Project is funded by the Spanish and Guyana Governments and focuses on the establishment of 82 acres of rice and 11 acres of beans cultivation programme over a three-year period, at a cost of US$643,000. This will support development of the Rupununi Savannah’s indigenous communities.
The expected yield is just over 20 bags of paddy per acre, and over 900 pounds per acre of beans.
The $126M undertaking was facilitated by the government, in partnership with the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development and Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
The programme aims at developing savannah agriculture in an effort to increase crop production and enhance economies in the villages.
Moco Moco, with a population of 400, has a rice history that dates back to the early 1940s, according to the President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Mr. Alfred Ramsaran.