A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SELECTED AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ON NCDEX WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WHEAT

Abstract

The outbreak of corona virus has affected the financial market internationally, in an unexampled
way. Due to the devastations that emerged in the international market, the Indian financial market
proportionally reacted to the pandemic and further witnessed a violent volatility. Considering the
COVID-19 situation, this paper is an empirical investigation on the impact of COVID-19 on the
agricultural commodities, specifically wheat, on NCDEX. Using daily closing spot and future
prices of wheat on NCDEX, this study examines the impact of COVID-19 on the wheat prices
over the period from 1st July 2019 to 30th April 2020. Furthermore, this study has tried to make a
comparative analysis of the spot and future prices in the pre-COVID-19 period and during the
COVID-19 situation, by using the help of statistical tests. Findings reveal that the price of wheat
has encountered instability during the Corona pandemic period. While comparing the results with
that of the period prior to Corona, we find that wheat prices, both spot and future, were highly
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.