Summary
20 November 2009
India will import rice for the first time in 20 years. The Indian government says it is in talks with countries such as Thailand and Vietnam to explore the possibility of importing rice from them.
Reporter:
Sanjoy Majumder
Rice fields in Bangalore, India
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India is the world's second largest rice producer and is also a major exporter. But this year, the country has been hit by the worst drought in nearly 40 years - because of which rice production is expected to fall by 18%.
So now it's planning to import the grain for the first time in two decades. The government says it has enough supplies to feed its population but wants to take the step to shore up its buffer stocks.
The country's Trade Minister, Anand Sharma, said that India was in touch with several countries and a final decision was likely to be made in a couple of days.
Sanjoy Majumder, 大象传媒 News, Delhi
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Vocabulary
- a major exporter
here, a country that sells a lot of rice abroad
- hit by
seriously affected by
- drought
when there is no rain for a long time
- to import
to buy from abroad
- two decades
20 years (a decade is a period of ten years)
- supplies
the amount, or number of services or goods (here, the quantity of rice) available in a market at a particular time
- to shore up
here, to increase (literally, if you shore something up, you support it to stop it failing)
- buffer stocks
extra, or reserve supplies of a basic commodity (here, rice grains) held for use when normal supplies are short
- was in touch with
contacted
