Agri Commodities

Sebi reduces turnover requirement for agri commodity options to Rs 100 cr

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday lowered the required average daily turnover for launching options on agricultural and agri-processed commodities to Rs 100 crore from Rs 200 crore earlier. This change will take effect from June 1, Sebi said. The decision has been taken keeping into account representations received from market participants and deliberations by Sebi's Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee (CDAC). "It is decided that for launching options contracts on agricultural and agri-processed commodities, the average daily turnover of underlying futures contracts of the corresponding commodity during the previous twelve months shall be Rs 100 crore instead of existing Rs 200 crore," Sebi said in a circular. With regards to eligibility criteria for launching options on commodity futures, Sebi said that options can be traded on a stock exchange only if the underlying commodity futures meet certain criteria. For agricultural and agri-processed commodities, the average

Will get duty-free access to India for selected agri products: Switzerland

Switzerland on Sunday said it will get duty-free access to the Indian market for selected agricultural products after a transition period of up to ten years under the trade agreement signed between India and EFTA. India on Sunday signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) under which New Delhi received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion from these four European countries. EFTA members are Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. "India is now the most populous country in the world. The growing middle class in particular is contributing to major growth potential. However, India currently levies very high import tariffs on most products," Switzerland said in a statement. Under the FTA, India will lift or partially remove customs tariffs on 95.3 per cent of industrial imports from Switzerland (excluding gold) either immediately or with transition periods, it added. Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin an

5,000 Farmer Producer Organizations onboarded on ONDC Portal, says Govt

The government on Friday said almost 5,000 out of 8,000 registered Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been onboarded on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) portal for selling the produce online to consumers across the country. Around 8,000 FPOs have been registered against the government's target of 10,000 under a central scheme launched in 2020 with a budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore. FPOs facilitate farmers with access to improved technology, credit, better input and more markets to incentivise them to produce better quality commodities. "Almost 5,000 out of 8,000 registered FPOs have been registered on the ONDC portal...," the agriculture ministry said in a statement. The onboarding of FPOs on ONDC to reach out to their buyers in any part of the country is in line with the Central government's objective of providing growers with better market access, it said. The move aims to empower FPOs with direct access to digital marketing, online payment, ...

'Govt looking at developing HSN codes for certain varieties of rice'

The government is contemplating to develop new HSN codes for certain rice varieties to enable exports of those which are traditionally not consumed by the people in the country, a senior official said on Tuesday. At present, all categories of non-basmati white rice are banned for exports. According to a presentation of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), they are working on separate HSN codes for GI (Geographical Indications) rice varieties like Red rice, Black rice and Kalanamak rice. In international trade parlance, every product is categorised under an HSN code (Harmonised System of Nomenclature). It helps in the systematic classification of goods across the globe. Rajesh Agarwal, Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry, said that non-basmati rice has about 40-50 varieties and when the government bans the export of that, all the varieties such as Sona Masuri, Govind bhog, Kalanamak, or normal white non-basmati rice get ...

Agri-commodities exports decline to 1.79 million tonnes in Sept: APEDA

Export of agri-commodities, including basmati rice, declined to 17.93 lakh tonnes in September this year compared to 27.94 lakh tonnes in the previous month, according to agri-export promotion body APEDA. Exports of agri-commodities in April and May were around 33 lakh tonnes each. However, shipments of farm items fell to nearly 18 lakh tonnes due to several restrictions on the export of various varieties of rice, including broken rice and non-basmati white rice. Export of agricultural items stood at 27.94 lakh tonnes in August of the 2023-24 fiscal, according to the data maintained by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). In value terms, the export of farm items declined to Rs 14,153 crore during September from Rs 18,128 crore in August of this fiscal. Much of the exports in September were non-basmati exports which stood at 4.25 lakh tonne, basmati rice at 1.21 lakh tonne, fresh onions at 1.51 lakh tonne, and buffalo meat at 1,21,427 ..

Sebi extends suspension of derivatives trade in 7 agri commodities for 1 yr

Markets regulator Sebi on Friday extended the suspension of futures and options trading in seven agricultural commodities, including wheat and moong, for one more year till December 2024 in a bid to rein in prices. The other agricultural commodities suspended by Sebi are paddy (non-basmati), chana, crude palm oil, mustard seeds and their derivatives and soya bean and its derivatives. "The suspension of trading in the above contracts has been extended for one more year beyond December 20, 2023, i.e. till December 20, 2024," Sebi said in a statement. The suspension permits squaring up of existing positions in these commodities, but no fresh futures trading is permitted for a year. To curb inflation, Sebi in December 2021 prohibited exchanges from launching new derivative contracts of soyabean, mustard seeds, chana, wheat, paddy, moong, and crude palm oil. These directions were applicable for one year. In December last year, the suspension was again extended for one more year till ..

Agri-food startup 'Farmers Fresh Zone' receives recognition from UN

Farmers Fresh Zone (Farmers FZ), an agricultural food startup, has received recognition from the United Nations for its unique module and practices, the company said on Monday. The United Nations hosted the SDG Agri-food Accelerator programme and Farmers Fresh Zone was one of the startups to get selected by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN during the meet held in Rome recently. "Farmer's Fresh Zone stood out for its unique module and practices which are scalable in any part of the world," a company statement here said. "India is the second largest country in agriculture production and we, at Farmers Fresh Zone, are super proud to represent as the only one from India at a global forum...," AgriTech D2C and (farm-to-fork as a SaaS) CEO Pradeep P S said. Under this programme, Farmers FZ would receive grants and other funds to make the necessary changes needed for each market, helping them widen their reach and making the business global, the release said.

Wheat prices jump to 6-month high on robust demand, limited supply

The government should release stocks from its warehouses into the open market to avoid potential shortages during the festive season, said a Mumbai-based dealer associated with a global trade house

Farmers plant 23.7 million hectares rice so far as monsoon rains revive

Higher rice planting in India, the world's second biggest producer of the grain, will ease concerns about the lower output of the staple

States kept out of open market sale to preserve stocks, cool down inflation

It also said that the decision wasn't taken all of sudden and was the result of an inter ministerial meeting

Jeera prices jump again on low crop estimates; second spike since Jan

For farmers though, this wild fluctuation in prices in the last few months is doing more harm than good

Systemic failure

Instability in prices of perishables must be addressed

Farm to fork: Going in favour of the grain ahead of Assembly elections

MP, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan go to polls in less than a year. They produce important agri-commodities. Centre in dilemma: higher prices will be inflationary, lower prices will trigger farmer wrath

India's agri, allied commodities export up 12% in Apr-Oct to $30 billion

India's export of agriculture and allied commodities rose 11.97 per cent to USD 30.21 billion during April-October period of current fiscal year, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The exports stood at USD 26.98 billion in the same period of 2021-22, it said in a statement. Wheat, basmati rice, raw cotton, castor oil, coffee, and fresh fruits were major commodities exported from India. The overall export of agri and allied commodities rose 20 per cent to USD 50.24 billion in 2021-22, when compared with USD 41.86 billion in the previous year, it added. The ministry said there was improvement in the farm produce logistics with the introduction of 'Kisan Rail' service in July 2020. Till December this year, Kisan rails were operated on 167 routes in the country. Around 1,260 wholesale mandis in 22 states and three union territories have been integrated with the electronic-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) with 1.72 crore farmers and 2.13 lakh traders registered on the platform

Sebi suspends trading of agri commodity derivatives for 1 more year

Data showed that before the ban last year, the aforementioned commodities contributed nearly 54 per cent of the total deposits in NCDEX between April 2021 and July 2021

Hedging risks

Suspension of futures trading has not helped

J-K govt sets up panel to frame export promotion policy for agri products

The Jammu and Kashmir administration Thursday constituted an expert committee to frame a comprehensive export promotion policy to identify agricultural commodities in the Union Territory that can be exported. The main objective of the policy is to increase annual agricultural exports from Rs 190 crore currently to Rs 3,000 crore over the next five years, a senior officer said. "The primary assignment of the committee would be to develop commodity-specific export promotion recommendations which shall include strategic and operational aspects of the export and shall provide all necessary technical inputs to the agriculture production department within one month for finalization and implementation on the ground," he said. The policy would promote the brand "Jammu and Kashmir" for its pristine agro-climatic conditions, uniqueness and near-organic quality, the officer said. It would aim to bring a paradigm shift in the approach from mere harvesting and selling of produce at the local le

Export opportunities

India should take advantage of higher global food prices

Centre cuts duty on refined oils, extends import tenure of pulses

For tur and urad, the cargo should arrive in India before June 30, 2022

Centre bans futures trade in seven agri commodities including soy complex

Crude palm oil clocked an average volume of around Rs 200 crore daily on the Multi Commodity Exchange