What do you mean by co-operative farming? Discuss its merits and demerits.

Give arguments for and against co-operative farming in India.

Ans. 

Introduction:

Co-operative farming is an important form of agriculture. It is a compromise between individual and collective farming. It involves farming on a large scale while still retaining individual ownership of land. 

According to Dr. Otothiler, "Co-operative farming in modern literature generally refers to a form of agrarian organization involving collective use of land." According to the Planning Commission - consolidation of land and collective management is essential for cooperative farming. Thus, many definitions of cooperative farming have been proposed.

Cooperative farming is the ultimate goal of land reform. In Mahatma Gandhi's words, "I am quite firm in my conviction that we cannot derive the full benefit of agriculture until we take to cooperative farming. Does it not stand to reason that it is better for a hundred families in a village to cultivate their lands collectively and divide the income therefrom than to divide the land anyhow into a hundred portions?"

There are following four types of cooperative farming:

• 1. Cooperative tenancy farming.
• 2. Cooperative collective farming.
• 3. Cooperative advanced farming.
• 4. Cooperative joint farming.

1. Cooperative Tenancy Farming - 

Under this farming system, land is divided into many parcels and each parcel is allotted to one farmer. Each farmer has to farm according to the plan devised by the committee and the committee provides facilities like loan-seeds, fertilizers and tools to its members.

2. Cooperative Collective Farming -

Under this farming system, members have to surrender their land. In this system, land, cattle etc. is shared, labor is also shared. But the management is done by elected councils. Under this, every person gets a share of surplus produce of the farm in addition to wages.

3. Cooperative Advanced Farming - 

This farming system is also called service cooperativism. Its objective is to improve agricultural techniques. Under this system, farmers have ownership of their land and manage it themselves. But committees provide various facilities for agricultural improvement. 

4. Cooperative Joint Farming -

Under this system, many farmers collectively pool their lands and carry out farming together. Under this, each member has rights over his land. Distribution of income from it is done on the basis of land ownership. This farming system helps in eliminating the problem of sub-division of holdings. 

Difference between Cooperative Farming and Collective Farming -

The basic objective of both cooperative and collective farming is to increase agricultural production through large scale farming, mechanization and use of advanced production technologies, but there are following differences between the two:

1. Cooperative farming relies on voluntary organization but there is an element of coercion in collective farming.

2. In cooperative farming, ownership of agricultural land rests with farmers but in collective farming, land is owned by committee or state. 

3. As compared to cooperative farming system, farms are larger in collective farming system.

4. A member has the right to separate in cooperative farming, which is not possible in collective farming. 

5. In cooperative farming system, members have full rights to interfere in the functioning of the committee, there is no such right in collective farming.

6. In cooperative farming, each member gets a share of produce in lieu of his land and labor contribution. In collective farming, each member gets wages and a share in surplus profits based on his wages.

7. Cooperative joint farming is more suitable when man-land ratio is low but collective farming is suitable when there is abundant land.

Merits:

Cooperative farming is an important form of agriculture. This farming system has many benefits. Its benefits can be divided into three parts. Facilities for large scale production, facilities for collective management and facilities for individual ownership. 

Cooperative farming leads to increase in size of holdings, enabling optimum utilization of labor and capital and elimination of small and uneconomic holdings and best possible use of entire land, which will increase production and generate more capital. Improved varieties of seeds can be used in this farming system and intensive farming can be adopted. As a result of collective management, animal husbandry, crop protection and marketing of crops can be done at lower cost. In this farming system, farmers have rights over their land and it is operated by its members. Thus, cooperative farming is suitable for democracy.

According to a United Nations report, for a underdeveloped country which has made democratic principles the basis for economic development, cooperative agriculture is ideally suited for the restructured system of land rights. 

Under this farming system, agriculture rights remain with farmers and farmers are provided various facilities for agricultural improvement, enabling full utilization of labor.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the cooperative farming system is the best means for farmers to consolidate land, capital and labor. Thus, cooperative farming has many benefits. Nehru had also given his opinion regarding agriculture.

Demerits:

According to critics, cooperative farming shows signs of communism, dictatorship and authoritarianism, and according to them, under cooperative farming, individual ownership will be ended in future. Many cooperative societies function like mixed capital, which encourages capitalism because land reform laws do not apply on such farming systems. Cooperation is nominal in this system. Not only that, cooperative farming societies benefit only rich farmers. They have failed to benefit poor farmers. 

Cooperative farming is not a revolutionary movement because private property remains intact under this farming system. Therefore, it rigidifies the framework of land distribution. In this regard, Gunnar Myrdal says "From the Indian viewpoint the cooperative movement is, in its actual working, much less radical than its proper form would warrant. Its main demerit, in fact, is that it does not change the existing set-up. The barriers of differential prestige between land owners, landless laborers, and crop sharers persist and may become more pronounced under the veneer of cooperative respectability."