BSE, the latest entrant into the commodity derivatives trading, will launch futures trading in turmeric on June 28. The exchange has received the SEBI approval to launch futures contract in castor seed and chana as well.

The exchange has waived transaction fee till September and expects farmers to use the opportunity to hedge their risk on the exchange platform.

Sameer Patil, Head of Business Development, BSE, told BusinessLine that the initial response from the trading and farming community has been encouraging.

Riding on the exchange’s superior technology and transparent processing mechanism, BSE would strive to develop a benchmark price in the agriculture commodity space over a period of time and help farmers reap the right price for their produce, he said.

The contract has been designed in consultation with traders and farmer associations to ensure that it is relevant to the market and does not remain just another product, said Patil.

The exchange has chosen Nizamabad (Telangana) as base centre with additional delivery centres at Sangli and Basmat in Maharashtra and Erode in Tamil Nadu.

While the trading unit for turmeric contract has been fixed at 10 tonnes, the maximum order size is fixed at 250 tonnes. The member-wise trading limit is 50,000 tonnes or 15 per cent of market-wide open interest in the commodity, whichever is higher.

In the near month contracts, member-wise client limit has been fixed at 12,500 tonnes or one-fourth of the member’s overall position limit in that commodity, whichever is higher, and client-wise limit is 1,250 tonnes.

Sowing for turmeric crop starts from May-end and extends till August, while the arrivals are between February and May.