The Obstacles,Paths and Mechanisms of the Sustainable Development of Farmers' Cooperatives in Hebei Province

Based on the description of the major role played by famers' cooperatives in developing rural economy and in increasing the income of farmers,the obstacles of the sustainable development of famers' cooperatives in Hebei Province are introduced.Firstly,the cooperative mechanism is imperfect;secondly,the development is substandard;thirdly,the coverage of preferential policy is limited;fourthly,the capitals and financing problem are difficult;fifthly,the operation is single;sixthly,the construction of marketing channels is the weak;seventhly,the professional talents are scarce.The sustainable development paths of famers' cooperatives in Heibei Province are analyzed.Firstly,conducting value-added processing and taking the way of materialized development,industrialized operation and enterprise-style management;secondly,implementing agricultural quality and brand strategy and moving into the high level market;thirdly,constructing modern agricultural marketing and taking the road of supermarket agriculture;fourthly,enforcing the management of information and getting efficiency from information;fifthly,developing recycling agriculture and taking the way of improving resource efficiency.There are five ways for establishing the operational mechanism of sustainable development of farmers' cooperatives in Heibei Province.The government should innovate the cooperation mechanism;innovating training and education mechanism;innovating production mechanism;innovating financial mechanism;innovating marketing mechanism.

Issues on Standardization of Farmers' Cooperatives in China

In the development of farmers' cooperatives,cooperative norm is a very important issue. It relates to an eternal topic in management: the balance between " fairness" and " efficiency". Because of the heterogeneity of cooperative members,the shortcomings of the distribution system and the balance between fairness and efficiency,China often has the phenomenon of " fake cooperatives". This requires the government,cooperatives and members to work together to regulate the development of cooperatives.

Research on Contractual Model Selection of Farmers' Cooperatives——A Case Study of Production and Marketing Cooperative of Sweet Pomegranate in Mengzi,Yunnan

In the perspective of new institutional economics,we regard farmers' cooperatives as a "contractual set" integrating a series of long-term contractual relations,and transform the selection problem of organization forms into selection problem of contractual model within organization.By the theoretical framework of Transaction Cost Economics,we analyze the formation mechanism and determinant factors of contractual model of different farmers' cooperatives and conduct case study on Production and Marketing Cooperative of Sweet Pomegranate in Mengzi,Yunnan.The results show that selecting contractual forms of cooperatives is the result of weighing many factors;new organization model or contractual arrangement is complementary to the former system arrangement;the selection of cooperatives model is an important factor impacting cooperation efficiency and stability of organization.One organization model with efficiency not only hinges on the transaction characteristic of organization,but also considers the compatibility with exterior transaction environment.In the process of selecting contractual model,we should conform to objective evolving law,but not be in thrall to a certain given form.

The Disputes over "Normal Development" and "Natural Growth" of Farmers' Cooperatives——On the Basis of Empirical Analysis on Farmers' Cooperatives in Deyang City

Combining the disputes on the "normal development" and "natural growth" existing in farmers' cooperatives and according to the actual investigation statistics, the management model selection and regulation (including model selection, policy encouragement, operation scale and scale selection ) of farmers'cooperatives in Deyang City, share structure and governance structure( including the establishment way and share structure, reserve sharing and dividend distribution, organization structure and policy-making mechanism), capital raising situation and financial support of farmers' cooperatives in Deyang City are analyzed empirically. It is pointed out the farmers' cooperatives should take the road "normal development".

Farmers' Cooperatives'Poverty-Reducing Roles in Agricultural Supply Chain Finance

Agricultural supply chain finance(SCF)plays a vital role in reducing poverty and linking smallholders with broader markets.By creating a multi-dimensional poverty index(MPI)for farmer households with A-F binary boundary method,this paper employs the propensity score matching and difference-in-difference(PSM-DID)method to estimate how farmers’cooperatives run by various entities affect farmer households’multi-dimensional poverty status.Our findings suggest that:(i)Each percentage of increase in the probability of farmers’access to SCF credit from their cooperatives makes it 8%and 10%more likely for farmers’MPI and multi-dimensional poverty order to decrease with a signi ficant poverty-reducing effect.(2)SCF credit from farmers’cooperatives run by large farmers,agribusinesses and the village cadres are signi ficantly poverty-reducing for full-time poor farmers.(iii)The higher non-farm incomes as a share of farmers’total income,the less poverty-reducing SCF credit from farmers’cooperatives run by large farmers and villagers becomes,and the more poverty-reducing SCF credit for agribusiness everyone cooperatives becomes.These findings highlight the importance of policy guidance for farmers’cooperatives to offer appropriate credit products and solutions according to local conditions,which is vital to maximizing the effects of targeted financial poverty reduction.

Development Status and Countermeasures of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives in Shangqiu City

Farmers' professional cooperatives develop in various forms,and with the continuous improvement of development level,social effects have gradually appear.Based on the specific situation of farmers' professional cooperatives in Shangqiu City,this paper expounded the development status of farmers' professional cooperatives in Shangqiu City,analyzed and discussed various problems encountered in the development process of farmers' professional cooperatives,and put forward some countermeasures and suggestions,such as establishing and perfecting cooperative rules and regulations,financing from multiple channels,introducing technical talents in various ways,breaking the information asymmetry restriction by various means,and giving full play to government functions,aiming to further promote standardized,large-scale,healthy and sustainable development of farmers' professional cooperatives.

Farmers using insurance and cooperatives to manage agricultural risks: A case study of the swine industry in China

Purchasing agricultural insurance and joining agricultural cooperatives are two prevalent instruments used by farmers in China for dealing with agricultural risks. Data from 443 swine farmers in Jiangsu and Henan provinces of China were collected. Factors affecting the farmers’ decision to purchase agricultural insurance and join agricultural cooperatives were assessed. The possibility of simultaneous use of both instruments and the potential correlation between these two decisions was considered as well. Results showed that the farmers’ decision to use agricultural insurance and cooperatives was positively correlated, indicating that farmers who purchased agricultural insurance which mainly used to mitigate production risks were more likely to join agricultural cooperatives which more used to share market risks, and vice versa. Farmers’ knowledge of swine insurance and trust in the local government positively impacted the purchase of agricultural insurance, while education, years involved in swine production and scale of swine production positively impacted farmers joining agricultural cooperatives.

Determinants of cooperative pig farmers' safe production behaviour in China——Evidences from perspective of cooperatives' services

Farmers＇ production behaviour is a key to ensuring the safety and quality of their final products, and cooperatives play an important role in shaping that behaviour. This paper aims to explore the determinants of pig farmers＇ safe production behaviour, giving special focus from the perspective of cooperatives＇ services. This study adopted cross sectional survey data from 27 pig cooperatives and their 540 farmers in China to test the influence of cooperatives＇ services on farmers＇ safe production behaviour. The hypotheses were tested using a logit regression model. The findings indicated that although the number of services is not a key determinant of farmers＇ safe production behaviour, service quality matters. When a cooperative is strongly capable of involving more farmers in certain services, and provides certain services in more frequency, member farmers behave more safely. The results also show that veterinarian and pig-selling services play an important role in ensuring farmers＇ safe production behaviour. For this study, the quality of cooperatives＇ services is implied to have a positive impact on farmers＇ safe production behaviour. Leaders/managers of cooperatives must try to improve the quality of their services instead of merely attempting to provide a large number of services. For government officials and policy makers, designing policies that encourage cooperatives to improve their service quality is important. This research contributes to the scant literature on how cooperative services could help farmers engage in safer production behaviour, which would improve the safety of pork products in the future.

Current Situation of Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives in Hainan Province and Development Strategies

This paper introduces the distribution, membership structure and industrial structure of farmers' specialized cooperatives in Hainan Province, and points out some problems in farmers' specialized cooperatives in Hainan Province, such as small scale, low ability to resist risks, lack of standardization in operation, and generally low quality of cooperative members. Finally the following development strategies are put forth: promoting the large scale and standardized development of farmers' specialized cooperatives; enhancing institutionalized education and training for members; encouraging university graduates to work in the cooperatives; providing conventional credit support to cooperatives; increasing fiscal efficiency to support cooperatives.

Comparative Analysis on Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives from the Perspective of Agricultural Industry Chain

Taking three typical farmers' specialized cooperatives in Jingyuan County of Gansu Province as example,this paper compared with the operating mode of three cooperatives and their position in the agricultural industry chain,and analyzed operating characteristics,problems,and similarities of three cooperatives and their functions in the agricultural industry chain.The study indicated that the farmers' specialized cooperatives can accurately find their position in the agricultural industry chain.This is helpful for raising their comprehensive competitiveness and it is very important to manage the survival and development of farmers' specialized cooperatives,which is of utmost importance to their effective operation.According to this study,the government should strengthen its support,speed up the cultivation of new-type professional farmers,while farmers' specialized cooperatives should grasp the operating characteristics,locate themselves and integrate multi-resources.These are effective measures for promoting healthy operation of farmers' specialized cooperatives.

SWOT Analysis and Development Strategies for Chinese Farmers' Professional Cooperatives

With the development of China＇s market economy, the agricultural products＇ market has changed from the seller＇s market into the buyer＇s market. Therefore, the limitations of the household contract responsibility system gradually appeared. The farmers professional cooperatives not only covered the limitations but also effectively connected the small-scale farmers with the competitive market by increasing the farmers＇ organizational degree. However, during the development process of farmers＇ professional cooperatives, many problems were exposed. By using SWOT analysis belonging to the field of enterprise strategic management, this paper discussed the opportunities and threats of the external environment, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment of Chinese farmers＇ professional cooperatives. Thereby, it proposed some development strategies for Chinese farmers professional cooperatives in the current stage .

Comprehensive Evaluation on Demonstration Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives on the Basis of AHP Model

On the basis of AHP method,this paper establishes comprehensive evaluation model of demonstration farmers' specialized cooperatives,uses the Delphi method and AHP software to assign scientific and objective weight to 7 criteria in criteria layer and 27 indices in index layer,and evaluate the overall level of 153 farmers' specialized cooperatives whose main business is fruits and vegetables in Region R.The results show that the overall operation level of farmers' specialized cooperatives is common;democratic and financial management is open;the information-based level and social sensation are not insufficient;the marking results of questionnaire is basically scientific and objective.This paper discusses the new way to evaluate operation level of farmers' specialized cooperatives,and puts forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions as follows:promote the information-based level of demonstration cooperatives;strengthen the service capacity of demonstration cooperatives;use means of science and technology to promote product quality;amplify social sensation of farmers' specialized cooperatives.

Willingness of Farmers Joining Professional Cooperatives——Based on the Questionnaire Survey of Nanjing

Based on the questionnaire survey of farmers in Nanjing City,the research analyzes the influencing factors of farmers' willingness joining professional cooperatives with Binary Logistic model.Results show that variable factors such as:labors,degrees of education,levels of awareness,development of judgments,have positive relation to the willingness of farmers joining professional cooperatives;gender and financial demands are negative related to willingness of farmers joining professional cooperatives;variable factors,such as ages,degrees of education,numbers of farmers,scale of land,generation experience,specific investment and fluctuations of prices,the estimated parameters of which are not significant.At last,the paper points out that the 2 important ways in accelerating the development of professional cooperatives are:the first is to accelerate the capital accumulation of advanced farmers and strengthen the scaled degrees of agricultural management.The second is to promote the information and techniques accumulation speed of professional farmers to strengthen people's awareness and confidence.

Research on the Problem Investigation and Standardized Improvement Paths of Farmers’ Cooperatives

Farmers’cooperatives are an important force to promote agricultural and rural modernization and rural revitalization.From an investigation,it is found that the development of some farmers’cooperatives is not standardized.Prominent problems are as follows:firstly,the operating mechanism is not standardized,and there is a contradiction between democratic decision-making and management efficiency;secondly,the supervision and management are not standardized,and some cooperatives even resort to deceit to obtain financial subsidies;thirdly,the distribution mechanism is not standardized,and core members invade the interests of small peasant households,so the motivation of ordinary peasant households to participate in cooperatives is not high.It is recommended to strengthen the assessment and supervision of cooperatives,implement the"late funding"model,improve the efficiency of financial support,strengthen the training of farmers,establish a interest linkage mechanism of farmers and cooperatives,protect the rights of members,and promote the standardized development of farmers’cooperatives.

Advantages,Difficulties and Countermeasures of Farmers’ Professional Cooperatives Guaranteeing the Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products

Food safety concerns the health of consumers,while quality and safety of agricultural products are the source of food safety,and it is of great significance to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products.The decentralized production mode of Chinese farmers is the main threat to the source of food production safety in China.In this paper,the advantages of Chinese farmers'professional cooperatives in controlling quality of agricultural products and difficulties in the quality and safety assurance of agricultural products are analyzed.Finally,the guaranteeing measures of the quality and safety of agricultural products by Chinese farmers'professional cooperatives are proposed.

Do cooperatives participation and technology adoption improve farmers’welfare in China?A joint analysis accounting for selection bias

This study examines the impact of farmers’cooperatives participation and technology adoption on their economic welfare in China.A double selectivity model(DSM)is applied to correct for sample selection bias stemming from both observed and unobserved factors,and a propensity score matching(PSM)method is applied to calculate the agricultural income difference with counter factual analysis using survey data from 396 farmers in 15 provinces in China.The findings indicate that farmers who join farmer cooperatives and adopt agricultural technology can increase agricultural income by 2.77 and 2.35%,respectively,compared with those non-participants and non-adopters.Interestingly,the effect on agricultural income is found to be more significant for the low-income farmers than the high-income ones,with income increasing 5.45 and 4.51%when participating in farmer cooperatives and adopting agricultural technology,respectively.Our findings highlight the positive role of farmer cooperatives and agricultural technology in promoting farmers’economic welfare.Based on the findings,government policy implications are also discussed.

Recommendations for Optimizing Internal Management Mechanism of Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives

Based on the survey of 38 farmers' specialized cooperatives in Hubei Province,this paper analyzed existing problems in internal management mechanism of cooperatives,including widespread problem of centralized control,imperfect supervision mechanism,lack of effective incentive mechanism,insufficient specialized personnel,and limited participation of cooperative members in management. It elaborated causes for these problems from the perspective of practice. Finally,it came up with recommendations for optimizing farmers' specialized cooperatives: building democratic decision making mechanism with coordination of cooperative members and able personnel,establishing supervision mechanism suitable for self demands,improving internal incentive mechanism,establishing talent introduction and cultivation mechanism in proper time,and strengthening internal member management of cooperatives.

Exploration of Problems in Developing Jilin Farmers' Professional Cooperatives

Establishment of farmers' professional cooperatives is an effective approach of settling conflicts between small-scale production of rural households and great market, however, there are still many problems such as low level of standardization, unscientific market positioning, poor capacity of mitigating risks, and unfavorable ecological benefits. This study, based on field investigation data and successful support experience, further explored operation and management problems existing in Jilin Farming Cooperative, and proposed pertinent solutions so as to enhance the high-efficiency and standard operation of farmers' professional cooperatives in Jilin Province and even China.

Development and Economic Effect of Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives

The paper introduces the present development of farmers' specialized cooperatives in China, points out that although the cooperatives in China develop rapidly, they are generally small and their advantages cannot be given into full play, and then analyzes the development achievements of the cooperatives, for example, they have realized scale benefits, their management system tends to more mature, the economic value of their brands is improved and they have created great economic benefits. The paper also points out the stable development path for the cooperatives, that is, the cooperatives should cooperate with local villages, and take a path of combined village and cooperative development so that the cooperative members can get a stable income; the cooperatives can also cooperate with local leading enterprises, which can help the cooperatives to manage, sell and form their products brands, thus the cooperatives can get loans easily to solve the capital bottleneck of cooperative development and improve the members' incomes.

Analysis on Governance Structure of Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives in Sichuan Province

In this paper, 87 farmers' specialized cooperatives in Sichuan Province were investigated firstly, and then their governance structure was analyzed from the aspects of authority, decision-making mechanism, supervision mechanism and executive body based on the corporative governance structure in narrowest sense, finally corresponding policy suggestions for improving the governance structure of farmers' specialized cooperatives in Sichuan Province were put forward. It is concluded that human control is serious within farmers' specialized cooperatives; inner supervision is effective; council has great effects on governance structure; the cooperatives give limited incentive to managers.