STOCKSHOTS of the Japanese government's rice reserves in a temperature-controlled warehouse as authorities are set to begin auctioning emergency stockpiles on March 10, starting with a first batch of 150,000 tonnes. The government said it would release a fifth of the emergency rice supply, 210,000 tonnes, after hot weather, poor harvests and panic buying over a "megaquake" warning nearly doubled prices over a year. Japan has previously tapped into its reserves to cope with disasters, but this marks the first time since the stockpile was built in 1995 that it is doing so because of supply chain problems. STOCKSHOTS