COOPERATIVE FARMING

Submitted by:
Ishan Mitra

Division- 1st Semester, Roll No- 21, Class- B section, Batch 2016-21

Of

Lloyd Law College

In
April, 2017

Under The Guidance Of

 INTRODUCTION

The word cooperative has two meanings: both a type of business and an
attitude that can be broadly applied. A cooperative is a specific type of business
that is formed expressly to provide benefit to its members, such as:
A producer co-op that is created to provide cost savings and or marketing
services to a group of producers
A worker cooperative created to provide stable, fair employment for its
workers.
A cooperative business is defined by three major standards:
It is owned by its members, those participating in the business, not by outside
shareholders or investors.
It is governed by its members. Each member of the business has a vote in
major business decisions and in electing representatives or officers.
It exists for member benefit, not profit for outside shareholders. Any profits
are distributed equitably among members.
While cooperatives have an important role in farming, not all collaborative
efforts meet those criteria. Buying a seed drill with neighbouring farms, sharing
a delivery van to a nearby city, or even running a farm together need not be
classified or operated as a cooperative in order to provide fair and mutual
benefit to those involved. Cooperative farming explores a variety of frameworks
to work together as a group.
Co-operative farming is a voluntary organization in which the farmers pool their
resources. The object of this organization is to help each other in agriculture for
their common interests. In other word it is a co-operative among the farmers of
limited means.

IMPORTANCE or ADVANTAGES OF CO-OPERATIVE

FARMING:-
The cooperative farming has been tried successfully in various countries
like United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden. Following are the
main advantages of cooperative farming:

1. Consolidation of Small Units of Land:-

Majority of the farmers keep the small units of land. So they cannot
employ the improved methods of cultivation. Cooperative farming
enables them to consolidate their small units of land for better utilization.

2. Use of Machinery:-
A poor farmer cannot purchase the machinery but a cooperative society
can easily purchase the various machines. The use of machines will not
only reduce the cost of production but will increase the per acre yield.

3. Supply of Inputs:-
A cooperative farming is in a better position to get the adequate and
timely supply of essential agriculture inputs like fertilizer and seeds.

4. Creates Love and Brotherhood:-

A cooperative farming society creates the brotherhood and love for the
members because they work for their common interest.

5. Fair Price of the Product:-

A co-operative farming society will bargain in the market and will sell the
product at maximum price. The income of the individual farmer will
increase.
 6. Guidance and Training:-
A co-operative society guides the farmer to increase their efficiency and
production.

There are 5 different types of cooperatives:

Consumer: owned by consumers who buy goods or services from their

cooperative
Producer: owned by producers of commodities or crafts who have joined
forces to process and market their products
Worker: owned and democratically governed by employees who become co-
op members
Purchasing: owned by independent businesses or municipalities to improve
their purchasing power
Hybrid: a combination of co-op types, where people with common interests
band together.

By the term Co-operative farming, we mean a kind of farming operations where

agricultural practices were conducted by individuals on their own holdings jointly
with certain common agencies formed on their behalf for the collection and
purchase of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers, equipments etc. and also for
the sale of their agricultural produce.

This is a kind of co-operative farming societies available in India. It refers to

Co-operative holding of the land with cultivation on individual holding as
before. The individuals hold their plots of land on payment of rent to their own
co-operative society.
But in real sense, Co-operative farming refers to farming practices where
farming operations are conducted co-operatively. In this type of farming, small
individual holdings are merged into a common unit and accordingly such farm
is managed on co-operative basis.
In respect of co-operative joint farming, individuals retain their ownership of
respective plots of land and distribute the income of the farm among the
members on the basis of the size and value of the plot along with their other
contributions.

Such type of farming is again different from the Co-operative collective farming
followed in socialist countries where ownership of land disappears completely
after the formation of co-operatives.
In India, majority of the holdings are too small. About 76.4 per cent of the total
holdings in India are below the size of 2 hectares and on these again 28.8 per
cent of total operated area is engaged into these marginal and small holdings.
Average area operated in the case of marginal farm is only 0.4 hectares and in
case of small farm it is about 1.4 hectares only.
Cultivation in such a small holding is uneconomic and unprofitable. Under such
a situation if these marginal and small holdings can be consolidated and if the
small and marginal farmers pool their land, resources and other inputs and then
start cultivating their land jointly by forming a co-operative, they can get the
benefits of large scale farming. This type of farming is known as co-operative
farming.

Features of Co-Operative Farming:

In a co-operative farming the following features are relevant:
(a) Joining of the farmers in this system is voluntary.
(b) Farmers retain their right to land;
(c) Farmers pool their land, livestock and other implements;
(d) The entire farm is managed as a single unit and the management is elected
by all the members; and
(e) Each and every member earns a share of the total produce in accordance
with their land contribution and labour performed.

Co-operative farming has various other roles as given below:

(i) Economies of Scale:
Co-operative farming can solve all the problems of small and uneconomic
holdings.
By pooling all the small and marginal farms, members of cooperative farming
can reap all the benefits of large-scale farming. While purchasing agricultural
inputs like seeds, fertilisers etc. the society can purchase in bulk quantity and
thus it costs less. Big machineries like tractors, harvesting machines can now be
purchased by the society and the agricultural operations can now be managed in
a more scientific basis.
Agricultural implements will be fully utilized and there will be no under-
employed farmers as they will be gainfully employed in the co-operative farms.
(ii) Marketable Surplus:
The marketable surplus of food grain and industrial raw materials can be
transported and marketed on a bulk basis suitably by the society and also can
fetch remunerative prices.
(iii) Release of Workers:
Higher productivity in co-operative farming will pave the way for release of
workers from agricultural to non-agricultural operations, whose scope expands
considerably with economic progress.
(iv) Administrative Convenience:
Co-operative farming is advantageous for the government on administrative
point of view so as to collect taxes, distributing subsidies and also for
introducing improved methods of production.
(v) Creditworthiness:
Co-operative farming can attain higher creditworthiness as compared to that of
individual farming as such large scale farming can attract greater amount of
finance for its productive activities.
(vi) Social Arguments:
Co-operative framings are having some social and political arguments in its
favour as it can inculcate the spirit of co-operation among the various members
of the society. Moreover, co-operative farming can create mutual confidence,
feeling of fraternity and friendship among the members and thus it facilitates
collective thinking and collective action among the members of the society.
Thus, the very foundation of modern democracy depends on the very spirit of
co-operation.
Criticisms of Co-Operative Farming:
Co-operative farming was very much popular at initial part of the economic
planning in India. In order to develop co-operative farming various facilities and
incentives in the form of financial assistance, technical assistance, subsidies,
additional facilities to supply high yielding seeds, fertilisers and other inputs
were advanced by the Government.
But the progress of co-operative farming was very much disappointing. It is also
revealed that the co-operative farming is still being practiced as a convenient
method to by-pass land reforms and thus it is helping the privileged classes to
maintain status quo and also for getting better facilities in terms of grants and
loans from government agencies.

The following are some of the important points of criticism in respect of co-
operative farming in India:

(i) Inequality:
Co-operative farming failed to make a frontal attack on the prevailing inequality
in the economic structure as the traditional status distinction of land owners,
landless labourers and share croppers are still being maintained.
(ii) Improper Work Style:
Co-operative farming societies are following the work style of joint-stock
farming and thus helping to develop capitalist farming in India. Co-operative
farming in India has not favoured any redistribution of income in favour of
landless cultivators.
(iii) Poor Support:
Indian bureaucracy has no faith and support in favour of co-operative farming,
community developments etc.
(iv) Lack of Professional Skills:
The management of co-operative farming societies are lacking professional
skills. There is absence of work culture in these societies. Moreover, lack of
proper administration and corrupt practices have been eroding the confidence of
the members towards co-operative farming.
(v) Unemployment:
Mechanisation of agriculture through co-operative farming will squeeze the
scope of employment and is likely to make workers redundant in the rural areas.

(vi) Better Alternatives:

Co-operative farming is not the only method to raise agricultural productivity.
There is the availability of better alternatives like adoption of HYV seeds,
fertilisers, implements etc. for raising the productivity of agriculture.

(vii) Loss of Independence:

Under co-operative farming, farmers face loss of independence in their farming
operation which the farmers find it difficult to accept. In June 1970, there were
nearly 8,819 co-operative farming societies with a membership of about 2.4
lakh under working conditions.
Out of the total cultivators only 2 per cent cultivators joined the co-operative
farming societies and were cultivating only 4.75 lakh hectares of land which
was only 0.4 per cent of the total cultivated area.
Whatever progress that has been achieved by these co-operative farming
societies that is also even breaking up gradually with the erosion of confidence
of the members towards their society leading to reversion towards individual
peasant farming. The failure of these earlier societies has also discouraged the
other farmers who have a plan either to form new societies or to join the old
societies.

CONCLUSION:
Co-operative farming is quite new to India. India is a land of plenty as well, as
of sheer wantof landed aristocracy and landless labour. India has stood in
great need of a thorough change in the system of fanning. The fragmentation
and sub-fragmentation of land is highly injurious to agrarian economy. It is
essential that efforts should be made to introduce co-operative system in the
field of farming. Co-operative farming means bringing together of all the land
resources of the farmers in such an organized and united way that they will be
collectively in a position to grow on every bit of land to the best of the fertility
of the land.
The successful working of a co-operative organization demands that the
members engaged in the enterprise should be provided with the necessary
resources. In addition, they must imbibe the spirit of team-work, mutual trust
and a basic loyalty to the collective enterprise. If the enthusiasm of
agriculturists could be pooled and channelized in constructive and
reconstructive activities with competent, wise and careful planning, we would
have, in a short time, a network of efficiently functioning co-operative farming
societies all over India. India is marching briskly to fulfill the dream of our
great Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.