India's rice exports drop in April-September, pulses surge: government body

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's rice exports dropped 9.6 percent to 5.8 million tonnes between April and September from a year earlier, as leading buyer Bangladesh trimmed purchases due to bumper local harvest, a government body said.

The country's buffalo meat exports during the period edged down 0.5 percent from a year ago to 618,559 tonnes, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority said.

Guar gum exports rose 5 percent to 265,195 tonnes on robust demand from the United States.

India is the world's biggest exporter of buffalo meat, guar gum and rice.

The country's exports of pulses more than doubled during the period to 171,656 tonnes, while dairy exports surged 39.3 percent to 66,462 tonnes, the agency said.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)