Greater role presaged for co-operatives

Delivery mechanism must be upgraded for agriculture: report

The mid-term appraisal report of the Maharashtra government has suggested that the co-operative sector should play a greater role in ensuring a better delivery mechanism in the agricultural sector.

It urged the vibrant co-operative sector in the state to set up rural godowns, warehouses and credit distribution facilities. The report also focuses on co-operatives working to eliminate all middlemen who do not add any value to the supply chain.

"With the warehousing receipt system becoming a negotiable document and banks increasingly showing interest in these, it could become an important economic activity in rural areas in the future, much as it is today in developed countries like the USA," the report states.

According to the report that was submitted to the Planning Commission on Wednesday, the delivery mechanism is dependent on a large number of structures in the state such as farmers' organisations (including co-operatives, farmers associations) and state agencies (like the agriculture department, marketing department and dairy department).

Similar is the case with multiple developmental agencies like the marketing board, MAIDC and non-governmental organisations and networking of research, teaching institutes in the public and private sector set up in Maharashtra.

"Farmers' co-operative societies should play a much bigger role in marketing of agricultural produce. Though a large number of farmers' sales and purchase co-operatives have been registered in the state, their impact is not what it should be, as is seen by similar initiatives undertaken in developed countries like Netherlands and Germany.

"In those countries it is reported that the marketing activity controlled by farmers' co-operatives covers 30 to 40 per cent of the agricultural marketing activity," the report notes.

The co-operative sector is required to play a more active role in marketing, providing value addition activities such as grading, packing and branding, besides taking up processing and export related activities, the report says.

"In short, the co-operative sector should work to eliminate all middlemen who do not add value to the supply chain. Currently, a number of sale-purchase societies in the state have been more successful as suppliers of inputs to farmers but not so successful in the actual marketing of the produce of their members.

"The additional activities that the farmers' co-operatives take up in the rural areas or production centres will create more jobs and help improve rural economy and improve the purchasing power of the state's agrarian society," it states.

The report also advocates the simultaneous involvement of other agencies such as NGOs and associations in marketing to serve as competition to these co-operatives.