Success of Rupununi rice, beans cultivation augurs well
HARVESTING of rice at Moco Moco village, in The  Rupununi, commenced yesterday, with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud announcing that the scaled down replica of the project is expected to be taken to other hinterland communities. In an invited comment, he said the replication will be made possible through a partnership between the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and other stakeholders.
Mr. Persaud explained that hinterland communities are supported through different community development undertakings and, recently, there have been many requests for such support with rice cultivation, among other agricultural ventures.
He said the Government is supportive of them and pointed to the fact that his ministry’s extension arm will be available for a direct form of involvement.
Persaud said the success with both rice and beans in Moco Moco augurs well for  development there.
Moco Moco created history last September when the farmers’ group there reaped its first rice harvest and progress with cultivation of the grain has continued since.
Over the next days, the planters are expected to reap from 69 acres with an anticipated yield of 20 bags of paddy per acre.
Moco Moco villagers have also planted several acres of beans and hope to get at least 900 pounds per acre.
Persaud disclosed that some investors looking to increase the acreage under cultivation there and larger scale production will be another step in the community’s advance to greater development.
The three-year rice/beans enterprise is funded by the Spanish and Guyana governments and focus is on 82 acres of rice and 11 acres of beans, at a cost of US$643,000, towards better rural development in The Rupununi savannahs.
The G$126M undertaking was facilitated in partnership between the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
Moco Moco, with a population of 400, has a rice history dating back to the early 1940s, according to President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Mr. Alfred Ramsaran.