NCDEX to connect 50,000 farmers to markets this year

The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) today said it is planning to connect 50,000 farmers to reliable markets this year, for which it has created a special committee.
"Majority of the poor people in the country today are farmers. We will enable some of the most marginalised farmers to access reliable markets for the first time. This will have a profound impact on food security and bring us closer to our national goal of doubling farmer incomes by 2020," NCDEX said Chairman Rabi Narayan Das said in a release here.
NCDEX is planning to shift more than 50,000 farmers from subsistence farming to market-oriented agriculture this year by facilitating their access to correct price signals before planting begins, managing price risk at harvest time, and receiving other forms of support including post-harvest training on quality standards, financing and warehousing.

In the last eight months, 16,000 farmers belonging to seven farmer producer companies, actively hedged on NCDEX, have received up to 20 per cent higher farm-gate prices for their wheat, maize, mustard seed, and soybean in states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
"Because of NCDEX, 16,000 farmers in these states are already in a better position this planting season than the last one. They can now expand production to earn a more stable income knowing they have a trusted market committed to their long-term success," Das added.