Need to promote co-operatives in agriculture, as collective farming is profitable

Noting that there was a need for promoting cooperatives in agriculture since collective farming is profitable, speakers at the Rural Voice Agriculture Conclave and NACOF Awards 2023 program, said it will accelerate the growth rate of the agricultural sector and ensure the economic progress of farmers.

"This goal can be achieved through collective farming," the panelists said while expressing their views.

In the second session of the program whose theme was “Farmers Collective and New Rising Sectors in Agriculture”, Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav, Chairman of KRIBHCO said, “Today there is no attraction among the youth towards farming. Today, the farmer's son prefers to become a peon. But he does not want to do farming. The attraction towards farming will increase only when there is profit in it. If we look at any business, the businessman prepares the balance sheet for the whole year, but if the farmer prepares his balance sheet, then there will always be a loss balance sheet."

He suggested that farmers can benefit if they do collective farming. The government has taken steps in this direction by creating FPOs. Farmers are benefiting from this. He said that cooperatives can play a big role in giving an organised form to the agriculture sector. Today farmers need good seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and many other things. By purchasing from the co-operatives, the farmer does not have to worry about quality or price. Loans are also being given through cooperatives. Most of the produce is being purchased at MSP through cooperatives.

He said that the youth should join the cooperatives and do farming with new technology. Through value addition in agriculture, youth will be able to provide employment to themselves and also to others. For this we should help in creating cooperative infrastructure. There are 8 lakh cooperative societies in the country with which lakhs of farmers are associated

It has got priority with the formation of the Ministry of Cooperation. It has been decided to form cooperative societies in every panchayat. The youth can move forward with them. There will be 40 types of work in the cooperative society. This is a golden opportunity for the youth also.

He said that a cooperative has been formed at the national level to provide good seeds. Similarly, a separate cooperative has also been formed for export. It is expected that the agriculture sector will benefit greatly from this in the coming years.

Addressing the session, Prakash Nayaknavare, Managing Director, National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited (NFCSF) said that if a cooperative sugar mill is set up in an area, then 20,000 farmers of that area are its members. These farmers not only sell their sugarcane to that mill, but they also own it. The profit that the mill makes from making sugar and other products is distributed among these farmers.

This earns them double income. He said that today sugar mills not only produce sugar but also produce ethanol, CNG, CBG, which has increased their earnings and farmers are also getting the benefit from it. This has made it easier for farmers to make timely payment for sugarcane.

Sundeep Nayak, former Director General of National Productivity Council and former Managing Director of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), said that climate change has emerged as a major challenge for agriculture and related sectors today. To deal with this challenge, there is a need to strengthen the Farmers Collective. This is a growing sector and has a lot of opportunities.

Be it FPOs, cooperatives or self-help groups (SHGs), there is a lot of scope for increasing productivity and efficiency through them. In view of the increasing population, increasing productivity is a big challenge which can be solved through collective farming.

National President of Sahakar Bharati, Dr. D. N. Thakur while expressing concern over the future problems of agriculture and rural sector, said that food security is one of the biggest concerns. He raised the question that today India is self-reliant in food security but will this security continue in the future also. Similarly, will the energy security necessary for development always be available?

Similarly, will the energy security necessary for development always be available? He said that the problem of water and unemployment is also a big challenge for the future. These problems cannot be solved by the government alone, rather they can be solved through collective action.

For this,vhe said, there is a need to support cooperatives. Also, in such a big country like India, there is a need to adopt not just one model, but different models. There is a need for a model through which farmers can easily get loans, bank guarantees and arrangements can be made to purchase the produce of farmers through cooperatives in every village.

Towards the end of the second session, Abhishek Govilkar, Head of Agriculture Division of MCX, said that Farmers' Collective is necessary for growth in the agriculture sector. It can play a positive role in the market. This is important for farmers and the agriculture sector. This not only increases the bargaining power of farmers in the market, but they also get good prices for their produce.

Apart from increasing production, it is also helpful in the economic progress of farmers. Besides, this will promote skill development of farmers, ensure use of advanced technology and increase their contribution in the market.