The writer is a science commentator
There is more to rice than meets the fork. The grain, harvested from a semi-aquatic grass, is a staple food for over half of the world’s population. Many countries in Asia have strategic rice reserves: this year, Japan dipped into its national stockpile for the first time since the 2011 tsunami, to counter panic-buying and soaring prices.
Nations are chasing self-sufficiency, with China this week announcing a 10-year agricultural master plan for domestic food security. Indonesia has earmarked an area the size of Jamaica on the eastern fringe of its sweeping archipelago to develop new rice farms.
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