Amidst concerns being expressed elsewhere in the Caribbean about likely food availability challenges arising out of the current coronavirus pandemic and its impact on both the agricultural sector in some countries as well as challenges associated with the importation of foods, Chief Executive Officer of Nand Persaud & Company, Mohindra Persaud, has delivered an upbeat report on the performance of the company insofar as both rice production and the servicing of both its local and overseas markets is concerned.
In an interview with the Stabroek Business earlier this week, the Berbice businessman tagged a figure of “around 130%” to the increase of local sales over the past two months adding that the company was satisfied that both its local and overseas customers would have been pleased with its performance.
And with food security concerns in the Caribbean and elsewhere accentuated by fears that the pandemic might persist for some time yet, Persaud told this newspaper that the company was particularly pleased that the issues associated with social distancing and the rotation of employees in both state and private sector entities had not impacted negatively on the operational efficiency of the Guyana Revenue Authority and the other agencies concerned with expediting of rice exports.
While the Berbice businessman told the Stabroek Business that the company was satisfied with the volumes of rice that it had placed on the local market, he conceded that there had been a sense of “panic buying” among local consumers and that there had been some reports of price hikes, despite the fact there has been no price increases at the level of the company.
However, Persaud was not prepared to extend himself in response to questions about the future of the rice market but stated that rice production will continue into the second crop and that the company was prepared to make strategic adjustments as and when the situation changes. In this regard he named the construction sector as a likely target for investment by Nand Persaud & Company should hiccups in the rice market give rise to such an eventuality.
Up to press time this newspaper had received no response to its request to the Guyana Rice Board for a broader assessment of the state of the rice industry against the background of increased local and international demand for food supplies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
