BUMPER HARVESTS WHEN FARMERS JOIN TO FACE THE MARKET

2007-08-23 From Shanghai Daily

Most of China's agricultural cooperatives were set up around 2002 and they have transformed the lives of the farmers who joined them and benefited consumers by standardizing prices, writes Peggy Weng.

It may seem ridiculous to some people when they see farmers driving cars to their farms to begin work. However, this is normal practice in Chongming County today because of the establishment of an agricultural cooperative association three years ago which has increased the income of farmers considerably.

An agricultural cooperative is one where farmers pool their resources in certain areas. It has become the "farmer's integration agency." The cooperative provides growers with loans for planting, fixing equipment, and harvesting and providing tractors when needed. It also trains growers in agricultural practices and assists hundreds of farmers to gain more knowledge about agriculture.

"The market is a battle field," says Wang Feida, the director of the Asparagus Cooperative, one of the most successful cooperatives in the county. "Before we established the cooperative, farmers faced the battle alone. Now, we face the market together with joint efforts and shared knowledge."

Before joining the agricultural cooperatives, how to sell their produce was a big headache for many farmers. "Most of the time, we just carried it on bicycles and sold our goods on the streets," says Wang Genmin, a vegetable farmer. "We used to wait on the streets, day and night, and hardly anyone passed by to buy our produce."

Most of the products ended up being sold for a low price to local vendors who would only offer a small sum of money to the growers. "But, that was all we could do - we didn't have other channels to sell our goods."

Thanks to the cooperatives that mushroomed in the county, the farmers' biggest worry was solved because the cooperative took the responsibility of selling the members' produce and providing them with enough money for a living. The cooperatives negotiate with all the distributors in the districts and cities to set a standard market prize.

Gone are the days of endless waiting desperately alongside the streets. Today the farmers just take their produce to the cooperative's base and the job is done.

And the cooperatives have raised the income of farmers significantly, some of them now have an annual income of 300,000 yuan (US$39,654), equal to that of senior white collar workers. "I now drive to my farm in my car to check on the vegetables," says Wang. "I never dreamed before of being able to live like this."

Most of Shanghai's agricultural cooperatives were set up around 2002, because of a combination of economic, farm organization and public policy factors.

The cooperatives had a tough time when they were launched since it was quite a new approach and no credit was available to farmers.

Starting with only three members, the Asparagus Cooperative has now developed into a 153-member association. They grow more than 80 percent of the asparagus consumed on Shanghai's dinner tables. The cooperative had an annual output of 1,200 tons last year and the figure is expected to reach 1,500 tons this year.

Now, the asparagus brand "bai gou" (white dog) has gained a good reputation not only around the city, but also sell in other cities and provinces in the country. It is also exported to overseas markets, such as Japan.

So far, a total of 50 agricultural cooperatives have been set up in Chongming, covering vegetables, sea food, poultry and fruit. More than 3,300 farmers in the county benefit from belonging to the cooperatives. According to the Chongming Agricultural Committee, the income of all the agricultural cooperatives in Chongming was 180 million yuan last year.

To support the non-profit organizations, the city government provided 1.8 million yuan to five agricultural cooperatives last year.