Unbelievably Futures Trading dates back to 17 th Century Japan. The first ever case noted concerned rice. However, there is also evidence that rice futures were traded in China as far back as 6,000 years ago.
Future trading is a natural progression of things in response to the difficulties of maintaining a year round supply of products which are dependable on seasons like agricultural crops. In ancient Japan, rice used to be stored in warehouses for future consumption by the rice merchants………………………………………..Full Article: Source