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Rural Development Agri-Biz & Commodities - Commodity Exchanges Logistics - Supply Chain Management Multi Commodity Exchange takes farmer's call Suresh P. Iyengar
Crop queries The hubs at post offices will have a computer terminal with Internet access. The exchange will charge Rs 10 per query.
Mumbai April 21 The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has tied up with India Post in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to reach out to farmers. Under the programme, a farmer can route his query to the MCX representative stationed at the post office through the village postman. The queries are sent online to the nearest agriculture research centres and responses delivered to the farmer through the postman. Besides specific queries, support information on farm-related issues and pricing would ride on this daily network. The exchange has set up two hubs at head post office of Jalgaon and Dhamangaon (55 km from Amravati) and one each at Itarsi (Madhya Pradesh) and Unjha (Gujarat). Another national commodity futures exchange, NCDEX, also undertakes programmes to work with farmers. ITC, a conglomerate with diversified business interest, has empowered 3.5 million farmers across 38,000 villages in nine States through its e-choupal initiative. The MCX hubs at post offices would have a computer terminal with Internet access, a printer, a scanner, a fax machine and an electronic MCX commodity price ticker. The exchange charges Rs 10 per query on crop advisory services. "The fees do not even cover the cost of operations. Though investment on computer and accessories are one-time investments, we incur monthly expenditure in the form of rentals to the post office, computer operator salaries, etc. At many places we are using blackboard for disseminating information," said chief economist, MCX, Mr V. Shanmugam, who heads corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. "We have set aside 0.25 per cent of our profit for the CSR programme for this financial year. Apart from making farmers understand the benefit of futures trading, we will help them get advice on fertilisers, pesticide, finance and warehousing," he said. Though the response from farmers has been slow, MCX is hopeful that it will win farmers' confidence soon. "We have received about 250 queries in six months from farmers and the numbers will definitely increase once we spread the tie-up to 1,55,000 post offices across the country," he said.
Warehousing
The exchange has also tied up 12 banks for arranging short-term finance for farmers based on warehouse receipts. Through its own subsidiary National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC), MCX has opened a new warehouse in Jalgaon. MCX provides daily price movements of commodities stored in the warehouses so that banks can take care of its interests. The exchange is also helping farmers get insurance cover by compiling data through farmer associations. "We are spreading the awareness on `timing the market' (when to sell their produce) among farmers through panchayat heads. We are also collating data of farmers through associations to help utilise products floated by the Agriculture Insurance Company," he said.
More Stories on : Rural Development | Commodity Exchanges | Supply Chain Management
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