Investigation and reflection on Comprehensive Farmers' Cooperatives

In 2013, the No. 1 document of the Central Committee once again made new arrangements for the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" with the theme of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers". The document points out a new trend in the development of farmers' specialized cooperatives: to give cooperatives more diversified functions-- from undertaking new agricultural subsidies, docking production and marketing, setting up rural mutual aid cooperatives, running their own agricultural products processing enterprises, establishing party organizations and many other aspects, this paper expounds the development of farmers' specialized cooperatives, which reflects that the central government encourages farmers' specialized cooperatives to be based on professionalism. Moderately to a comprehensive and all-round development thinking is not only the strategic arrangement for the overall planning of urban and rural development, but also the inevitable trend of deepening rural reform.

I. connotation and classification of farmers' economic cooperation organizations

Farmers' economic cooperation organization is a kind of innovation of production and management system for the development of rural economy under the new situation, which plays an important role in increasing farmers' income and promoting agricultural industrialization. At present, according to the degree of development, farmers' economic cooperation organizations can be divided into two categories, namely, professional cooperatives and comprehensive cooperatives.

Farmers' professional cooperatives are mutual-aid economic organizations based on the producers and operators of similar agricultural products or the providers and users of similar agricultural production and management services, such as dairy cooperatives, wheat cooperatives or agricultural machinery cooperatives. Farmers' professional cooperatives take their members as the main service objects, providing services such as the purchase of agricultural means of production, the sale, processing, transportation and storage of agricultural products, as well as technology and information related to agricultural production and operation. At present, there are many such cooperation organizations in France, the Netherlands and other EU countries.

Comprehensive farmers' cooperatives refer to farmers' cooperative economic organizations whose business scope covers production, processing, circulation, finance, insurance, cultural construction and many other fields. its biggest advantage lies in saving transaction costs through diversified business-not only cooperation in the fields of production and sales, but also cooperation in the fields of finance and insurance, as well as cooperation in culture, social services and other fields. Comprehensive farmers' professional cooperatives can even absorb the participation of urban consumers, form a direct docking mechanism between producers and consumers, thoroughly reduce the circulation cost of agricultural products, and achieve the multiple goals of improving farmers' income, ensuring quality and safety, and increasing consumer welfare. There are more cooperative organizations of this type in developed countries in Asia, and the peasant associations in Japan are more typical.

II. At present, the development of peasant economic cooperation organizations is still in the primary stage.

In recent years, China has made great efforts to support the development of various types of peasant economic cooperative organizations, but in terms of its scale, most peasant economic cooperative organizations are still in the stage of small-scale development, and in terms of their operating system, most of them are professional peasant cooperatives. Compared with the more mature professional cooperatives in developed countries, there are obvious problems and deficiencies, and farmers are not organized in a real sense. It does not play a leading and promoting role in the development of rural economy.

(1) the form of organization is not standard

In many professional cooperative organizations, there is a widespread phenomenon of non-standard organizational form in varying degrees: first, membership does not meet the legal requirements; second, the establishment procedure does not meet the legal requirements. Third, the formulation of the constitution does not meet the requirements of the law. Fourth, the distribution of power and restraint methods do not meet the requirements of the law. Fifth, the establishment of institutions and system construction do not meet the legal requirements. Some large-scale cooperatives do not reasonably separate decision-making bodies, executive bodies and supervisory bodies, and do not play the role of power checks and balances.

(2) low degree of organization

The scale of the organization is generally small, and the ability to drive farmers and resist market risks is weak. On the whole, rural cooperative economic organizations are still in a "small, scattered, weak" state. The driving force is weak, the stability is poor, and the role of service function is still at a low level. In addition, the internal management system and articles of association are a mere formality, and many farmers' professional cooperatives operate on the ability of village leaders and professional individuals, and their members only sell their own products and do not form de facto cooperation.

(3) low level of operation and management

This is the biggest constraint to the standardized development of farmers' professional cooperatives at present. The initial organizers of cooperatives are often large growers or transportation and marketing, and their combination brings market and technological advantages to cooperatives, but cooperatives are in urgent need of people who can lead their members to enter the market. While there is a lack of cooperative leaders who can grasp the insight into the market, there are few members who are competent for basic work such as financial management.

(4) lack of management personnel

The problem of shortage of talents generally exists in the development of farmers' professional cooperatives. There are fewer excellent leaders who understand technology, good operation and management, and fewer instructors in industry guidance departments who understand law, policy and supervision; there are fewer teaching and research personnel who are profound in theory, good at integrating international advanced experience with China's national conditions, and good at combining theory with practice. In particular, there is a serious shortage of leading talents who can organize modern agricultural production and operation, which makes it difficult to grow and improve the ranks of farmers' professional cooperatives.

(5) the concept of cooperation has not yet taken root in the hearts of the people.

Farmers' own market awareness, science and technology awareness and cooperation awareness are also relatively weak, and members lack the awareness and ability of sustainable investment. The long-term awareness of small farmers and the current household contract responsibility system have enabled farmers to develop the habit of decentralized management and are not at ease and active in cooperation. In some so-called co-operatives, their members do not care what they produce, how they produce them, or how they sell them after they are produced, and their relationship with their members is a business relationship, not a cooperative relationship.

(VI) lack of effective association among professional cooperatives

At present, there are a large number of farmers' specialized cooperatives, but most of them fight on their own and lack of alliance, resulting in unnecessary low-level competition, and some even set up several or more cooperatives of the same kind within a township area. you can't get economies of scale. To some extent, it wastes policy resources and increases the cost of organization and human resources.

(7) undemocratic operation and management

In the operation and management of a large number of co-operatives, most of the important forms of democracy, such as consultation, voting on major issues, regular meetings and communication, and rules of procedure, are not effectively implemented, but are basically decided or led by the leaders of the cooperatives. ordinary members rarely have a say, and dissenting opinions are not respected. Due to the undemocratic management, it directly damages the spirit of unity of cooperatives and makes cooperatives fall into a crisis of trust, which may seriously endanger the survival of cooperatives.