Trade bodies urge restarting commodity futures ahead of kharif harvest

They say lifting of ban is in the interest not only of farmers and consumers, but also processors and downstream industry

With the harvesting of kharif crops about to start in the next few months, a clutch of trade bodies and farmer groups have approached the authorities to lift the ban on futures trading of various agricultural commodities.

The Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT) and the Mustard Oil Producers Association of India (MOPA), along with some Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) recently wrote to various stakeholders to lift the ban on futures trade in the interest of farmers, consumers, processors and downstream industry.

Prior to that, the product advisory committee on turmeric had rejected calls for banning futures trade in