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Agricultural
cooperatives are established to enable farmer members to engaging
in business together, thus helping one another in times of crisis
as well as gaining for themselves a better livelihood and quality
of life. |
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 Backgound
A small credit cooperative named Wat Chan Agricultural Cooperative
Unlimited Liability established at Muang district, Phitsanulok
province on 26 February 1916 was the first agricultural cooperative in
the country. From then on, the number of small credit cooperatives had
steadily increased until the promulgation of the Cooperative Act, B.E.
2511. Several of these small cooperatives then grouped together,
forming agricultural cooperatives at the district level. Larger and
stronger cooperatives are, then, expected to provide a wider scope of
services to members.
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Objective
Agricultural cooperatives are generally formed to meet the
members' needs as follows: |
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 1. To provide loans to
members for productive and providential purposes at affordable
interest rates; |
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2. To encourage members'
thrift through savings and deposits; |
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3. To provide agricultural
products and daily necessities for sale to members at reasonable
prices; |
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4. To promote appropriate
farm practices and disseminate technical know-how aimed to help
members reduce production costs and obtain higher yields. With
government assistance, members are introduced to proper cropping
techniques as well as use of fertilizers and insecticides. Another
service is in the form of farm equipment (e.g., tractors, water
pumps, etc.) made available to members at reasonable charge; and
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5. To enable members to
market products together, thereby obtaining higher prices for
their produce and maintaining fairness in terms of weights and
measures. |
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Cooperative Bussiness
At present, agricultural cooperatives engage in various types of
business in responding to their members' needs. Generally, the five
main areas are loans, savings and deposits, sale of consumer and farm
supplies, goods, joint marketing, and agricultural extension and
services.
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Loan
to Member
Through the assistance of Government, the Bank for Agriculture and
Agricultural Cooperatives, various foundations, and other lending
agencies, agricultural cooperative members are now in a better
position in accessing loans at low interest rates with grace periods
appropriate to their business. Thus loans are generally classified to
three categories -- short-term, medium-term and long-term loans. With
sufficient loans, members can gain the utmost benefit, enabling them
to purchase seedlings, fertilizers, insecticides, farm machineries, by
and/or improve land, etc.
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Saving
and Deposits
Agricultural cooperatives promote thrift because accumulation of
savings can help in improving member living standard. Savings can also
be used to carry out cooperative businesses that yield profit for both
cooperatives and their members. Currently members can have savings and
deposits at their cooperatives.
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Sale
of Consumer Goods and Farm Supplies
Along with credit business, agricultural cooperatives also procure
quality products for sale to their members and the general people. The
buyers are assured of fair prices and measure when they order together
through the cooperatives in a large quantity.
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Joint
Marketing
Through joint sale of products, members can obtain not only good
prices but also fairness in weights and measures. With government
assistance some cooperatives have been developed market centers for
members' product distribution not only locally but also abroad. A
successful example is that of insecticide-free golden bananas now
being exported to the Toto Consumer Cooperatives in Japan.
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Agricultural
Extension and
Service
Cooperatives provide agricultural extension and services to members at
reasonable fees. Examples are in the areas of plowing, land
improvement, irrigation, demonstration farms, etc. Costs are made
affordable using the expense-sharing principle.
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Type of
Agricultural Cooperative
Agricultural cooperatives are generally organized among the people
engaging in agricultural earning with varying kinds and degrees of
need, thus resulting with various agricultural cooperative types.
Besides the general agricultural cooperatives, there are some special
types of agricultural cooperative such as:
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Water Users Cooperatives.
Members of this cooperative type are farmers living in the same
area along a canal or other water source which they jointly use.
Joint utilization and maintenance of this valuable resource is the
main purpose of this cooperative type.
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Land Reform Cooperatives.
This cooperative type is established as part of the government's
land reform program in land reform areas. The main purpose is to
assist farmer members in agricultural production as well as to
enable them gaining access to capital, agricultural necessities,
marketing, saving facilitating and improving members' living
conditions.
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Special Cooperatives. This is
formed among farmers who raise animals such as cattle, swine, etc.
Joint marketing of these products enables members to obtain good
prices and fairness in trading. Dairy cooperatives are among
these. They either process milk for sale in the general market or
sell raw milk to private firms producing dairy products.
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National Security Command
Cooperatives. This cooperative type has been initiated by the
Supreme Command to help people in remote areas improving their
living conditions through productive occupation promotion.
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Rubber Cooperatives. Rubber
Cooperatives are organized among rubber planters. Through their
cooperatives, the members share various aspects of rubber
production and marketing, including product development,
processing and managing of the cooperative business.
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Cooperatives in the Border
Patrol Police School. This special cooperative type is under the
auspices of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who
believes in cooperative method of self - help and mutual help
which would provide the youth with a meaningful ways of future
living. |
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