Importance of agrarian cooperatives

Rural people cooperate with one another and try to increase their farming areas. In 1981, 26% of cultivated land was held by cooperative farming and in 2004, it had increased to 46%  of all cultivated land. They had some help from cooperative banks. But now, that is mostly replaced by core banking facilities, by the proliferation of post offices and post office accounts, by mobile banking, and by the bank accounting opening schemes (facilitated by UIDAI). Previously, only cooperative banks were there as the source of credit loans for the small farmer;but now there are impersonal sources which give credit but are not aware of the fragility of the farming profession.Farmer should not get sunk in debts from these impersonal organisations.After the 10th five year plan, share of cooperative bank in marginal farmer's source of credit is only 25% than the previous period when it was 62%. The farmer with limited land  struggles to survive, as he is not able to step up production as he can manage only so much given the traditional technology. Unless industrialisation of farming techniques takes place, the precarious state of the farmer will not change. Those who merge their farms with others and are farming very large fields with industrial mode of production,can become successful.We can make appropriate land policies, make quick technology transfers and build the basic infrastructure for making of modern farms. Only then, farming will be profitable for the farmer.Till that is done, we will be paying higher and higher price for our fruits and vegetables.

In today's ultra modern net market, the farmer is caught with old world technology. Alienated in remote areas, the simple people are not aware of today's industrial farming and are totally isolated.We must rescue them and bring  them up to the standards of today's world. 
  

Cooperatives are needed for others also.Not just farmers, but artisans, crafts men, and weavers and so many are living in inaccessible places, and have not come into to the modern world's fold. They can use their creativity in manufacturing products because the era of simple artisans has ended.They should truly inherit the land and also participate in the making of modern India. They are the real Indians--those who have been practising a simple way of life of work and worship, those who symbolically share the harvests of the land, those who are one with the culture and religion of the land.We must help these people to survive and prosper.