Food scarcity has been a frequent headline this year but with food inflation now dropping along with commodity prices, rice is an example of the scare that wasn’t. The monsoon was late starting in India, leading concerns that the world’s largest rice exporter would be driving up prices by 10 percent. Weather has now returned to normal, and the September rice contract has shed 3.5 percent in value over the past few weeks.  USDA forecasts global rice production to rise a modest 0.37 percent, but global rice exports will increase by 1.8 percent. Rice is a more water intensive crop than most and could be the most impacted by climate change. This should turn the research focus on genetics with less intensive water requirements...