Describe the Cooperative Farming Structure.
All the activities in agriculture which are undertaken jointly and which directly influence the primary process, are included in cooperative farming. The three types of cooperative farming societies are:
- Cooperative Tenant Farming Societies,
- Cooperative Joint Farming Society,
- Cooperative Collective Farming Society.
Tenant Farming Societies:
In such a society, large area of land is procured either by purchase or on lease or free hold and then the entire land is divided into small plots and each plot is allotted to the members, i.e. a tenant cultivator. He is the whole sole owner of the produce of this land but he has to pay an agreed rent to the society. The society takes the responsibility of the supply of credit, seeds, manure and heavy agricultural implements.
Joint Farming:
In this type of society, land holders (whether tenants or owners) pool their small plots of land in order to cultivate them jointly. The owner is the proprietor of the land. Joint cultivation is done on the pooled land in accordance with the decisions which are taken by the committee of the society. Each member gets wages for his daily labor just like a tenant, whether he is an owner of land or not. The produce raised is sold collectively.
Collective Farming:
In this type of society, land is held in free hold or lease hold and cultivation is done jointly. After the formation of such society, the land becomes the property of the collective farm and the members lose their individual ownership of their respective lands. The produce is raised collectively and distributed among members in proportion to labor and other resources contributed by them. Each member receives wages for the labor put in by him. The profits are divided in proportion to wages earned by each member.
Since agriculture has become modern and scientific, the dependence of the cultivator has largely increased on outside supply of inputs and services. In order to maintaining a constant flow of supplies of essential agricultural services, the farmers are in need of an efficient machinery. For this reason, the farmers look to cooperative societies to supply the required agricultural services.
A service cooperative is different from a productive society as it does not undertake production on its own, it simply helps the members in improving their productions. The concept of service cooperative is different because here the idea is to provide the farmer with all possible economic services.
Thus, the service cooperatives do the job of arranging the supply of farm requirements including improved seeds, fertilizers, implements, etc., maintaining and supplying agricultural machinery in hire; Providing short and medium term loans to farmers, Providing essential household needs and Encouraging the members to save so that they are self-sufficient.
The cooperatives that are based on the basis of product and service are Sugar cooperatives, Fruits and vegetable cooperatives, Cooperative cold storage, Cooperative processing of plantation crops, Rice mills cooperatives, Cotton processing co-operatives, Cooperative spinning mills, Cooperative jute mills, Cooperative oil seeds processing units, etc. Others include dairy cooperatives, fishery cooperatives, poultry cooperatives, etc.
