By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 13, 2018: IN an effort to make the agri-economy more efficient and bring huge amount of value for the farmers of India, the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX), is launching the country's First agri-commodity Options in Guar Seed which is an important hedging tool. The Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley will launch the country's First Agri-commodity Options here on January 14, 2018 in presence of farmers & Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) from various States across country.

The instrument, which is uniquely designed by NCDEX and approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is expected to deepen trade in that commodity and will benefit farmers in reaping improved price realizations for their produce, with limited downside risk. This launch is largely inspired by the fact that Guar Seed is one of the most liquid contracts on the NCDEX platform and a large number of informal trading Centres in some communities of Rajasthan are already involved in some form of informal options trading.

The official Launch will also see farmers share their experiences on how NCDEX has helped better their lives. As of December 2017, NCDEX has already seen 59 FPOs across various States participate on the Exchange, and more than 2.3 lakh farmers have already opened their trading account. In order to promote awareness around this new agriculture hedging tool, the Exchange has initiated a series of awareness programs and trainings across the value chain. The Exchange will also launch a mobile application on this occasion where farmers can learn more about agri options and the commodities market.