Benefits gained by farmers from Cooperative Marketing
- As the farmers sell their produce together through one agency, Cooperative Marketing improved the bargaining power of farmers.
- Cooperative Marketing Societies also provide farmers with credit whenever they have immediate cash requirements.
- The Cooperative Societies often have storage facilities through which instead of selling their produce in a hurry, the farmers can wait for better prices and then sell their produce.
- Cooperative Marketing System also provides the facility of bulk transportation at a cheaper price.
Besides these benefits, the Cooperatives received a setback during the recent past times because of the following reasons:
- Inefficient Financial Management
- Inadequate coverage of farmer members
- Lack of proper link between marketing and processing cooperatives
4. Different Policy Instruments:
The government has also implemented different policy instruments to improve agricultural marketing. These include price support policies, minimum support prices, and direct procurement from farmers. Price support policies ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their produce, while minimum support prices guarantee a minimum price for crops. Direct procurement from farmers ensures that the farmers receive a fair price for their produce and reduces their dependence on middlemen.
- Minimum Support Prices (MSP): The Minimum Support Price is the price at which the government purchases crops from the farmers to ensure that they receive a fair price for their produce. The MSP is fixed by the government based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and is announced before the sowing season.
- Maintenance of Buffer Stocks: The government maintains a buffer stock of essential food items such as wheat, rice, and sugar to ensure that they are available during times of scarcity and to stabilize the prices in the market.
- Public Distribution System (PDS): The Public Distribution System is a government initiative that provides essential commodities to the poor and needy at subsidised prices. It includes items like rice, wheat, sugar, and kerosene oil, which are made available through a network of Fair Price Shops across the country.