A Multi-Methodological Analysis of Jabuticaba’s Supply Chain in an Agricultural Cooperative Production

Background: In the late 1990s, the idea of fighting drought gave way to the concept of how to live with drought in the Brazilian semi-arid region. From this perspective, the Brazilian Federal Government’s investment in social technology and education encouraged local agricultural production and subsistence agriculture began to have a surplus for commercialization and income generation. However, there are still difficulties in the development of the productive chain, as perceived in Alagoas, Brazil, with the jabuticaba fruit and its derivatives. In this locus, problems related to the creation of value and distributions of the product were identified. Methods: This study proposed a participant observation in a rural producers’ association and a multimethodological approach based on VFT (Value-Focused Thinking) and SWOT analysis aiming to structure the problem, identify communities’ objectives and develop alternatives to solve these problems so that they can get more out of their production. Results: showed that the product has marketing potential due to its differential, but the producers are limited in the process of distributing the goods. Conclusions: So, this study was able to analyze the problems of this productive system in a structured way, generating suggestions for actions to achieve the strategic objectives of the cooperative.

Hubungan antara Respon Petani pada Kegiatan Pelatihan Usahatani Cabai Paprika (Capsicum Anumm Var.Grossum) dengan Peningkatan Produksi dan Pendapatan

The problem in this study is that the demand for paprika chili continues to increase, along with population growth, nutritional fulfillment, supermarkets, restaurants and export markets. but production so that the level of paprika chili production is still low in Indonesia. The efforts that have been taken are by forming legal entity farmer groups such as the Golden Gate Agricultural Cooperative in Cibodas Village, Lembang District, West Bandung Regency. Koptan G.E Aside from being a provider of saprotan and marketing containers, it is also a vehicle for learning for farmers. Educating member farmers is the main focus of this cooperative work program. The education program held at the G.E Cooperative is in the form of training. To increase the production of paprika chili, the G.E Cooperative held a training on paprika chili farming. This study aims to determine the relationship between the response of farmers to the training activities of paprika chili farming on the increase and production at the Koperasi Gerbang Emas Cibodas Village, Lembang District, West Bandung Regency. To achieve this goal, the type of research used is the case study method that takes the sample by means of saturated samples. The number of respondents was 16 paprika chili farmers who were members of the Gerbang Emas Cooperative who participated in the training of paprika chili farming in 2016. The conclusions from the research are: The application of cultivation techniques to the training of paprika chili farming at the Gerbang Emas Cooperative includes a good category with a cumulative score of 380 (87.96% of expectations). Increased production and income of farmers from GE Koptan members after applying the technical training included in the good category with a cumulative reality score of 262 (77.97% of reality). From the calculation results obtained rscount for 0.64 while rstable for N = 16 and α = 5% or 0.05 for the two-party test get 0.49. This means rscount > rstable or 0.64> 0.49. This means that Ho is rejected, thus there is a significant relationship between the response of farmers to training in paprika chili farming on increasing production and income .

Regeneration of Post-Agricultural Brownfield for Social Care Needs in Rural Community: Is There Any Transferable Experience?

In the 21st century, rural communities face many challenges, including implications of dynamic population aging, a lack of social care services, and the occurrence of abandoned post-agricultural brownfields. This paper is methodologically based on the findings derived from a set of qualitative in-depth interviews with the key rural stakeholders, explores the decisive factors and limits, accelerators, and barriers governing successful regeneration of the post-agricultural brownfield in the post-socialist environment. We are using the case of the regeneration project of a large-scale former communist agricultural cooperative, located in Vranovice, the Czech Republic, to illuminate how complex and challenging the redevelopment of a post-agricultural brownfield into a social care facility for elderly people is. A wide agreement among the experts in the field of community development exists that this regeneration project can serve as a model example for other rural municipalities that are sharing similar local development issues. Our findings illustrate how important and challenging at the same time are the matters of good governance, the active and long-term participation of stakeholders in the regeneration project, and the real-life introduction of the public–private partnership concept, particularly in immensely transforming the post-socialist countryside.

The Coordination of Multi-Stage Discounts in a Dual Channel Fresh Agricultural Pro-duce Supply Chain: Minimizing the Loss of Quantity and Quality

This paper explores the coordination of the agricultural cooperative to supermarket or E-commerce sup-ply chain, under the condition of quantity loss with a mixed decay function of exponential and logistical distribution. The nature of this process is analyzed, and the corresponding demand and supply functions with single- and multi-stage discount strategies are constructed respectively to create a working model. The optimal discount ratios for supermarkets and agricultural cooperatives in decentralized and central-ized decision-making modes coupled with single- and multi-stage discounts are calculated respectively. Finally, a universal optimal strategy is designed, which can be applied to various quantity decay scenarios and makes the discount strategy more generalized. The results show that discounts can coordinate supply chains more effectively; not only is fresh agricultural produce sold before it starts to rot, but the benefit conflicts arising from both supermarkets vs. cooperatives and traditional vs. E-commerce channels are equilibrated. Further, multi-stage discounts are more effective than single-stage ones, but optimal discount ratios rely on the initial quantity of fresh agricultural produce in the supply chain; its market share in the traditional distribution channel; the potential market size; retail price; the price sensitivity coefficient of the channel; the cross-elasticity coefficient of prices between different channels; and the properties of the quantity loss.

AN ANALYSIS OF GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE OF KARNATAKA STATE COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT BANK IN KARNATAKA

Primary Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Banks are playing an important role in meeting the credit requirements of the rural population. The main activity of the Bank is the dispensation of long-term credit for agricultural and rural development under schematic lending approved by NABARD Bank. The lending programs are for productive purposes like integrated loans for agriculture and allied agricultural purposes under major and medium-term projects. The present study was carried out with a broad objective to examine the performance of the Karnataka State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (KSCARD Bank). The study has made use of secondary data (2010- 11 to 2019-20) and the analysis is carried out by using the exponential growth model which has been used to analyze the performance of KSCARD Bank. Finally, it is concluded that the lending performance has very crucial role in Long Term Credit requirements, but the status of the recovery balance of KSCARD bank is very high when compared to the demand and collection of the recovery

Factors that facilitate development of small agricultural cooperative farm alliances

Although cooperative movement in Russia has a pretty long history, achieving its proper functioning failed for a variety of reasons. With new support measures in place, namely, to establish a basic infrastructure - since 2015, to acquire assets and farm equipment, agro-processing equipment - since 2019, cooperatives in Russia geared to promoting small farms are expected to flare up. In this context, this paper reviews key statistical indicators of the current structural changes in agro-industry, as well as the health and contribution of small farms to the agricultural industry in general. This work aimed to identify preconditions for Russian farmers to form cooperatives. This is of the utmost importance since small farms produce nearly half of the country’s total agricultural output, own 37% of arable land, 56% of cattle, and ensure a quarter of employment. Through the research, a range of malpractices affecting the progress of small farms has been identified. They are dearth of modern technology, efficient staff, impossibility to invest in working capital, problems with marketing of produced goods, etc. Creating well-functioning agricultural cooperatives will address the above challenges today’s Russian farmers face.

Why Do Agricultural Cooperative Mergers Not Cross the Finishing Line?

Mergers have played a relevant role in the business development of many agri-food cooperatives and have led to the consolidation of large cooperative groups which are leaders in their respective business sectors. However, many of the merger processes undertaken fail: some are aborted at the negotiation stage, and others are not approved by members. These failures entail financial and social costs due to frustrated expectations and the time invested in the negotiation process. The objective of this paper is to establish the economic, socio-cultural, organisational and process management factors that underlie this outcome. A survey was conducted among the directors and administrators of a sample of Spanish agri-food cooperatives that had participated in merger processes which were aborted at the negotiation stage or were not approved by their members. Factor and discriminant analyses established the aspects which had the greatest impact on the failure of the merger processes. Far from being economic factors, these analyses reveal that defensive localisms, a lack of commitment to the merger on the part of members and directors, and communication failures were more significant.

THE COOPERATIVE EXPERIENCE OF COGON FARMERS: FOOD SECURITY FOR SMALL FARMERS

Cooperativism is a method introduced by people in a society to neutralize the competitive prices of goods from among business sectors. It is a way for people to come together, put up their goods and services as one, and with the end in view of benefiting from their products. The purpose of this study is to appraise the fundamental function of cooperativism and how it can assist and sustain small farmers in their aim for food security. This work utilized hermeneutical phenomenology in understanding the lived experiences of small farmers in Barangay Cogon, Tanauan, Leyte, Philippines from the establishment of their cooperative, its operation, and its eventual success in giving them food security in the process. The results indicate that farmers were hesitant in establishing a cooperative because of the groundwork that accompanies it. But with the aid of the faculty members of the Eastern Visayas State University, the farmers underwent education on the nature of cooperativism. From there, the faculty members allowed the farmers to cultivate discipline, sustenance, and business integrity while operating the cooperative. Constant monitoring from the faculty members over the farmers was necessary to ensure that the cooperative was consistently maintained thereby achieving stability and eventual food security. For years now, the cooperative has helped its members substantially. Coincidentally, the occurrence of the covid-19 virus has made significant changes or damages to human life and properties, but this cooperative gave hope and food sustenance to its members. This study hopes that the effort of the initiators coupled with the cooperation and effort of the cooperative members exemplify the need to proliferate cooperativism in every society especially among poor farmers. Keywords: Cooperativism; Agricultural cooperative; Theory of cooperation; Phenomenological study; Research and extension service; Food security