KARACHI: Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), the country’s only multi-commodity futures exchange, in collaboration with Naymat Collateral Management Company Limited (NCMCL), the first and only CMC company licensed by SECP, and GROWTECH Services, has launched a series of programmes to create awareness about the benefits of Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWR) mechanism among the farmer.

The aim of these awareness programs is to educate smallholder farmers to become part of this landmark ecosystem to achieve three objectives: uplift the lives of farmers, documentation of the agriculture sector and improve food security.

The first programme of the series was held at Depalpur, District Okara. A large number of bankers, warehouse operators, and more than 250 farmers attended the program. During the session, PMEX and NCMCL briefed the farmers about the three options under the EWR mechanism: 1) the safekeeping of commodities to avoid distress selling and post-harvest losses, 2) using EWR as collateral for borrowing from financial institutions, and 3) trading of EWRs at the PMEX platform.

GROWTECH Services talked about increasing yields and saving input costs through its farm-specific services, finance, advisory, and access to the right markets. The session was followed by a Q&A where farmers took an active part in knowing the details of the EWR regime.

Ejaz Ali Shah, Managing Director of PMEX, Shakaib Arif, CEO of NCMCL, and Faisal Bilal of GROWTECH Services graced the event.

PMEX expressed its commitment to organizing similar awareness programs for the farmers in collaboration with NCMCL and GROWTECH in other agri centres located throughout Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022