And after two bumper years, the government says it has enough wheat and rice in store to prevent serious food-grain price inflation.

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On his wall hung a painting of the huge conical brick structure that still stands at the west of the city, built by the British to store rice after a devastating famine in the 1770s.

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"We're building market share by opening in areas where we are growing the market, " says Troy Rice , Depot's senior vice president for store operations.

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Roe has figured out that most of his customers are desperate for fresh ideas--they've perfected the candy bar and long-grain rice, but they know a good package gives them an edge in the grocery store.

FORBES: BEMIS Bag Man

Hewlett-Packard has invented a wireless data chip that can store 100 pages of text or 15 seconds of video on a dot about half the size of a rice grain, with potentially dramatic applications in everything from health care to photography and marketing.

FORBES: Magazine Article