No nexus between inflation and futures market: Pawar

Union Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday reiterated that there was no nexus between inflation and the futures market.

Inaugurating electronic display boards of spot and futures prices of commodities at the Azadpur mandi here as part of a price dissemination project, the Minister bemoaned that most political parties and MPs were not willing to accept that futures markets did not have a bearing on rise in the prices of commodities.

“I always have to face a problem in Parliament. People [Members] in Parliament are not ready to accept the futures market. They think that the futures market is a

satta (betting) bazaar or something,'' he observed.

According to him the ban on the futures trade in some of the commodities had not helped bring down prices. “Price depends on supply-demand factors,'' he said adding that when a ban was imposed on rubber futures last year, farmers protested but political parties in Kerala wanted the ban.

He said installation of ticker price boards at the mandis would benefit farmers in taking decisions about the crop to be sown and post-harvest marketing decisions.

‘Right step'

Terming the project a “right step'' taken for empowerment of the farming community, the Minister said the project would fulfil a long-felt need of farmers in obtaining timely and adequate information on prevailing prices of agricultural commodities in different markets. It would enhance the bargaining power of the farmers and enable them to get a better price for their produce.