Types of Cooperatives

• Marketing Cooperatives
• Processing Cooperatives
• Cooperative sugar mills
• Dairy cooperatives
• Fertilizer cooperatives
• Industrial Cooperatives

Marketing Cooperatives

The need for the Marketing was realized in view of the growing malpractices prevailing in buying and selling of agricultural produce. The producers were not getting the due share of their agricultural produce. The producers were not getting the due share of their agricultural produce. The producers were not getting the due share of their agricultural produce. The producers were not getting the due share of their agricultural produce. The producers were not getting the due share of their agricultural produce. They were forced to sell their produce on through away prices. So as to protect Farmers, marketing cooperatives emerged after the enactment of Cooperative Societies Act 1912.

Processing Cooperatives:

In order to reduce the number of middlemen and to obtain a greater return on the agricultural produce, processing of crops by Marketing Cooperatives was felt to be necessary. This resulted in the emergence of processing Cooperatives, such as those, (For paddy processing, ginning and cotton baling, rice mills and those for pulses and gradually the operation was extended to fruits and vegetables, cashew, rubber and cocoa.

Cooperative Sugar Mills:

The 2nd five year plan also included a programme for starting cooperative sugar factories. In the middle of 1958, licenses under the industries Act 1951 were granted to 38 cooperative sugar factories. By 2002, the number of cooperative sugar factories had increased to 381 of which 137 were in Maharashtra. The Cooperative sector contributes nearly 59% of the total sugar produce in the country.

Dairy Cooperatives:

Dairy in India is closely interwoven with Agriculture and plays an important role in the rural economy. Besides having vast employment potential, dairy provides not only milk, but also stabilizes farm incomes. Small farmers and landless Laborers account for 53% of the animals and 51% of milk production. With the declaration of the National Policy on Dairying in 1956, the growth and development of dairy cooperatives received a major boost.

Fertilizer Cooperatives:

With the growing population and the increasing demand for food grains, pressure continued on farmers to grow more. So as to increase productivity, farmers were required to ensure adequate and quality inputs at reasonable prices.

Industrial cooperatives:

The 2nd five year plan recognised the need for developing village and small scale industries on cooperative basis as far back as the 1950s. The Industrial cooperatives have a three-tier structure, availability of raw materials and marketing due to competition and Modernization.