A survey of farmers' cooperatives: when there are operational difficulties, the trees fall apart.

A survey of farmers' professional cooperatives in Zibo, Shandong Province

Our reporter Bian Minde

Editor's note: land shareholding, mutual financial assistance, social service …... After years of development, a variety of cooperation modes have emerged in farmers' professional cooperatives in China. These cooperatives have played an important role in expanding the scale of agricultural production and operation, enhancing industrial competitiveness and increasing farmers' income. However, the management of some cooperatives is not standardized, the proper distribution of interests has not been achieved, and there is a lack of effective self-development mechanism. In the process of the development of cooperatives, it is urgent to solve the problems such as how to protect the interests of farmers, how to realize industrial upgrading, how to sustain self-development and so on. New Countryside Weekly has launched a series of reports "focus on Cooperatives" from this issue, paying attention to these developing problems and trying to find answers.

Ten years ago, farmers' professional cooperative was a new term, and only a handful of people knew it. Ten years later, the once "rare thing" has started a prairie fire, and its impact on rural areas, agriculture and farmers is like a boulder falling into the water, provoking thousands of waves.

Increase the scale, reduce the cost, increase the income.... The benefits of joining a co-operative are self-evident. But in the vast countryside, the wait-and-see mood has not been dispelled. The failure cases exposed from time to time continue to sting the cautious and sensitive nerves of farmers. Whether you can make money or not, how to guarantee your income. The "small ninety-nine" in the minds of farmers is nothing more than the protection of their own interests.

After the initial rapid expansion, farmers' professional cooperatives are now facing a lot of difficulties. To answer farmers' doubts and give them "reassurance" is a necessary question for cooperatives to continue to move forward.

Make money, but it's hard to get rid of the heart.

In the cooperative organization system, retail farmers are generally in a relatively weak position.

Located in the mountainous areas, nine years of drought, Zichuan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, Zhaili Town Liaowu Village villagers, the past life is not easy.

There is a millet tradition in the village. However, because the land is barren and time-consuming, the output has not been high, let alone a good price, and it is easy to keep it at home for several years.

"it has been good these years, and the co-operative has made a decent appearance, from sowing to receiving, all in accordance with other people's requirements." As soon as the 61-year-old Xin Weimin got even, the output of millet per mu increased by 30%, and the selling price increased by 50%. "one mu of land can earn 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, and more than 80% of the farmers in the village have planted millet."

The cooperative mentioned by Xin Weimin was established in 2008. Its full name is Liaowu Xiaomi Professional Cooperative. After more than 8 years of development, the cooperative has expanded from 17 members at the beginning to more than 170 now, with a planting area of more than 3700 mu. As many as 576 peasant households have actually participated, and many of them have taken this opportunity to get rid of poverty.

Sun Bo, chairman of the board, said that the cooperative provides free technical guidance and improved varieties to its members, and tries to reduce the cost of fertilizer. "more importantly, buy Xiaomi at a price 20% higher than the market price. This is only a guaranteed price, and in practice, the purchase price will be raised according to the sales situation. "

The cooperative emphasizes the sharing of interests, which really gives farmers a taste of sweetness, and the innovation of planting methods has made everyone's pockets bigger. These changes can be seen and touched by the peasants. While placing high hopes on the co-operative, anxiety occasionally arises.

Yue Zengqun, an old couple from Zhanggongtian Village, Qingcheng Town, Gaoqing County, Zibo City, had doubts about joining the cooperative at first. Seeing that others received both money and dividends after joining the club, the old couple simply transferred their 4.8 mu of land to the Dianxiang vegetable Professional Co-operative. In the first two years, as soon as autumn came, the old couple could receive a lot of money. But last year, there was no movement until the end of the New year.

"is there something wrong with the co-operative? will the 'boss' run away with the money?" The old couple muttered in their hearts, and they later learned that the co-operative had encountered financial difficulties because the stall was too large, there were loopholes in its management.

Wang Ruijun, Agricultural Economic Station of the Agricultural Bureau of Gaoqing County, said that farmers' worries are not superfluous. "although cooperatives are formed spontaneously by farmers, in the whole cooperative organization system, due to their own limitations, they do not know much about business information, and retail farmers are in a relatively weak position on the whole."

Only by breathing together can we have "good luck together".

The lack of a strong sense of cooperation and the lack of close convergence of interests are problems to be solved urgently.

As the saying goes, we share the same breath and fate, but this is often not the case.

As the director of the economic management station of the Agricultural Bureau of Zichuan District, Yang Daoying likes to chat with the person in charge of the cooperative. Several times, he heard such a complaint. "it is supposed to be benefit-sharing and risk-sharing, but in fact there are more times for benefit-sharing and less time for risk-sharing."

There are many similar cases. In some co-operatives, when the efficiency is good, the peasants in the eight townships in the ten miles and eight townships scramble to join, but once there are operational difficulties, it will be like "falling apart." In some co-operatives, when they need to raise funds, few are willing to take the lead, but as soon as they catch up with dividends, people suddenly emerge.

"the lack of a strong sense of cooperation and the lack of close convergence of interests are the problems of many cooperatives." In Yang Daoying's view, the internal relations of most cooperatives are essentially simple business relations, and a real interest community has not yet been formed. "in such a loose state, although there is a regiment, there is a big gap, so it is naturally difficult to safeguard the interests of farmers."

In this case, the management of cooperatives is particularly important. The Dianxiang vegetable Co-operative, run by Zhang Weigang, has learned such a lesson. After joining the cooperative, the peasants became new members and got paid to go to and from work like city dwellers. At the beginning, because the management was not fine, the members' labor depended on self-consciousness, and the problem of not making efforts in the work was exposed.

"We can't keep an eye on the members, nor can we monitor them everywhere." Not only that, Zhang Weigang also found that the serious waste of vehicles, pen, ink and paper has also become a big problem. Last year, the cost on vehicles alone reached 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. "this year, we will abandon the practice of 'big pot rice' and replan responsibility sheds and responsibility fields, so that members can get more for their work. We will implement the 'bus reform' and sell three vegetable trucks to buy services from the community. If we stop the leaks, we will keep the wealth of the co-operatives. "

"the healthy development of cooperatives is the greatest guarantee for the interests of farmers." Sun Bo's feeling is that although the cooperative has gone through nearly a decade, it is still in the initial stage of development. "We must be realistic, from easy to difficult, do as much as we can, and do not expand the scale blindly. On the basis of ensuring the continuous income of members, the cohesion can be enhanced through effective management. "

Make rules and tie up the "iron fence"

When development and standardization are carried out at the same time, we should not only guide and support, but also strengthen supervision.

There is no doubt that the government is the biggest backer of farmers. In the process of the development of cooperatives, the effective supervision and timely intervention of relevant government departments is particularly important to protect the interests of farmers.

"at present, there are all kinds of problems in the development of cooperatives." Li Tongwu, deputy director of the Agriculture Bureau of Zichuan District, said frankly that there has been a lot of debate about whether to develop or standardize first. "We feel that development and regulation must be carried out at the same time. There are more than 600 registered cooperatives in Zichuan District, of which more than 300 are in good operation, more than 200 are in general operation, and more than 100 have problems. As the competent department, it is necessary to deal with them in a timely manner so as to clean up and rectify both in and out. "

Policy guidance is an important means of adjustment. At present, from the central government to the local government, a series of measures have been formulated, such as financial award, loan support, and personnel training, to guide cooperatives to further standardize. Zichuan District has set up a special fund for the development of cooperatives to provide long-term support for demonstration cooperative projects above the municipal level and reward cooperatives. Through bundled support, Zichuan District gives priority to the concentration of various agricultural infrastructure construction projects to typical demonstration societies, characteristic industrial cooperatives and superior industrial cooperatives.

The supervision of co-operatives requires a few more "locks". Take the signing of agreements between cooperatives and farmers as an example, third-party forces are indispensable. The practice of Gaoqing County is that the agreement signed between the cooperative and its members is in triplicate, one for each of the cooperative and its members, and the other is entrusted to the government department where the cooperative is located for safekeeping. The audit department of Gaoqing County also brought 719 registered cooperatives in the county into the scope of financial audit to prevent cooperatives from counterfeiting and harming farmers.

"Cooperatives should not be allowed to dissociate from financial and judicial supervision, and functional departments should provide multiple protection for farmers." Wang Ruijun believes that the risk of agricultural production is relatively high, and once there is a risk, it is necessary to help farmers stop their losses in time. "if the cooperative encounters a broken capital chain or the boss' runs away', the judicial department should intervene immediately to preserve the property. In particular, necessary support should be given to the requirements of farmers to reclaim the right to the use of land in accordance with the law. "