Joint Collector Ch. Sridhar said that the bar coding would make it easier for yard personnel to monitor the arrivals of the stocks. Every chilli bag would be bar-coded and the details would be fed into the computer, he said.
The introduction of bar coding is part of the State government’s plans to bring in e-trading in agricultural commodities replacing the conventional open auctions. The proposal, has however, has been resisted by commission agents. In Guntur, the e-trading of commodities has been introduced on a pilot basis at the AMCs in Guntur and Duggirala.
Under the e-trading system, registered traders would be provided a password to log into the online bidding portal, www.neml.in (NCDEX e Markets Limited), leading national spot exchange in India. After verifying the permit code, the traders place their bids on agricultural commodities. The bids are then forwarded to farmers through an SMS with an option of either accepting or rejecting the bids.
But traders, used to having their own way at the AMC, have been resisting the move. There are over 500 licences issued to traders, but some 150 traders have no licences.
Further, the concept of zero business where the traders buy the produce without entering the stock into records, has also been widely prevalent at the AMC in Guntur.
Unlicensed traders feel the feat
While the e-trading of commodities makes it mandatory for traders to register with the AMC, the unlicensed traders were feeling the heat.
“We have introduced the system to induce transparency in the trading of agricultural commodities. Farmers will have a choice of either accepting or rejecting the bids. We will try and address the concerns of traders,’’ said Deputy Director, Marketing, N. Srinivas.
Huge volumes
During the peak trading season, over 80,000 chilli bags are traded and the volume of trade is in between Rs.80-Rs.100 crore. Chilli trading season begins in February and ends by June.
Under the e-trading system, traders would be provided a password to log into bidding portal.


Source : The Hindu