NCDEX gives IT tips to farmers for better future(s)

MOGA: Undeterred by the suspension of futures trading, related foreign brokerage such as FMI Financial Markets International and future NCDEX National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) are going ahead with their plans to educate the farmers in the hinterlands of Punjab.

An effort is being made to empower the farmers with information technology. BKU Bharat Kissan union activists also seems to be supporting these companies.

Addressing the farmers here in Moga, Mr Sharad Joshi, Member of Parliament, said, “I do not mind future trading provided it benefits the farmers. After all Punjab provides wheat to entire India. “Thing that is going in the favour of these farmers is that the companies like NCDEX are ready to bear the hoarding cost as well.

Normally the debt ridden farmers in the state try to sell their produce as soon as possible so as to pay back the loan they had borrowed from the Artiyas and money lenders.

“Now with companies ready to pay the hoarding cost the debt ridden farmers can always wait. Earlier their was no option before them.” Says Balwant Singh, GS, BKU, (Punjab).

Top FMI and NCDEX officials impressed upon the participants, numbering over 1,000, the fact that futures trading in commodities on an online commodity exchange like NCDEX results in transparent and fair price discovery due to large scale participation of farmers/producers, traders, processors, exporters/ importers and end users of a commodity and reflects the views and expectations of a wider cross-section of people related to that commodity.

Mr Narendra Gupta, chief strategy, NCDEX, said farmers can use the online trading platform of NCDEX to hedge the price risk by selling forward their expected production.

He emphasised that NCDEX provides an effective platform for price risk management for all segments of players farmers/producers, traders, processors, exporters/importers and end users of the commodity even as farmers can use price signals on the exchange platform to decide which crop to grow in the next season.

However, Mr Sharad Joshi, accepted that the future trading can pave a way to the price rise. “To make farmers come out of the debt trap I do not mind if the consumers have to pay bit more.” Said Mr Joshi. Also for these companies both agrarian states Punjab and Haryana are important markets.