The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and its Investor Protection Fund Trust launched the country’s first call center for farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) on Tuesday, intending to provide comprehensive information about agricultural derivatives and related market infrastructure services.
According to a press release released by NCDEX, the effort would allow farmers and FPOs to have real-time access to all types of information, including exchange functionalities, product-related questions, spot prices, delivery, and settlement-related queries, and so on.
“This will be the world’s first call centre, delivering information that will connect farmers and FPOs directly to the derivatives market.” “I am convinced that the facility will close the gap between NCDEX and farmers, particularly those in rural areas across the country, and bring them into the mainstream of agricultural output marketing,” said Arun Raste, NCDEX managing director and chief executive officer.
“Derivatives provide effective risk management tools to farmers,” V. S. Sundaresan, executive director, Securities, and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), stated during the event. Farmers, on the other hand, are not well informed about the derivatives market. SEBI has been working hard in this regard, and this call center will help us. It’s a start in the right direction,” says the author.
The information provided at the call center will not be limited to derivatives trading; it will also include all NCDEX Group services, such as Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt-based financing and electronic spot trading via auctions and reverse auctions, allowing farmers to connect to the entire agri-value chain.
Agriculture has been practised in India since the Indus Valley Civilization. India is the second-largest agricultural producer in the world. In 2018, agriculture employed more than half of India’s workforce and contributed 17–18% of the country’s GDP.
In March-June 2020, total farm commodities exports totaled US$3.50 billion. India’s agricultural exports were $38 billion in 2013, making it the world’s seventh-largest agricultural exporter and the sixth largest net exporter. The majority of its agricultural exports are destined for developing and least developed countries.
Indian agricultural/horticultural and processed goods are exported to over 120 countries, with Japan, Southeast Asia, SAARC countries, the European Union, and the United States is the most popular destinations.
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