INDIA – Rice inventories in India surged to a record high at the start of December, reaching more than five times the government’s target and potentially boosting overseas shipments from the world’s biggest exporter of the staple food. Rice reserves, including unmilled paddy, in state granaries totalled 44.1 million metric tons on Dec. 1 against a government target of 7.6 million tons, data compiled by the Food Corporation of India showed. (Reuters)

Photo: Farm labourers carry rice saplings for planting in a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India.