Agricultural Co-operative confront with loaning

Cooperative’ main activities are helping together in production and life such as: supporting each other in cultivation, irrigation, seeds, breeding livestock; following programs of plant or livestock conversion; acquiring and applying advanced technological achievements to production for poverty-alleviation and ceaselessly enhancing the locals’ income. However, according to general assessment, operations of agricultural cooperative still have some limits; average and weak cooperatives occupy a high number, and running of services have made unexpected effects.

Until now, number of good-running cooperatives occupies 20 percent, average cooperatives occupy 40 percent, weak and stop-running cooperatives are the last. Actually, total attending members of cooperatives are only 1.928 people compared with 2.443 registered members (occupying 81.4 percent). Total charter capital at the first time is 14.262 million of VND, but the real contributed capital is only 10.821 million. Activities and business of cooperative at the present time are mainly doing services, supplying materials, fertilizer, petroleum, seeds, breeding livestock; consuming of agricultural-forest-aquatic products; supplying fresh water service; sanitizing environment; making fresh vegetables, and other services such as: irrigation, drying, botanical protection, processing of agricultural-forest-aquatic products, tourism…According to member’s evaluation, agricultural cooperatives which are dynamic to market and run multi-functional and multi-professional business following to law, can survive and develop. To agricultural cooperatives which is merely doing agricultural services according to crops, hardly compete and survive in the period of integration nowadays.

According to a report of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, nowadays the cooperatives are all short of capital for business, because almost cooperatives have no properties to mortgage, so they can’t ask for national loan. According to statistics in the year 2004, total loan of agricultural cooperatives is 3.862 million of VND including banking loan of 1.522 million VND, 1.200 million from loaning of 120 programs, 50 million from credit fund, and 1.090 million from member’s income.

To establish cooperatives, the first essential things are cooperative groups, and until now, according to reports of People’s Committee and People’s Council of communes, Long Khanh Town, Bien Hoa city, the whole province has 2.513 cooperative groups and professional branches. Among them, there are 564 professional branches, 659 lending groups, 858 groups of loaning from social policy bank, 118 cooperative groups of cultivating, 97 cooperative groups of raising, 37 cooperative groups of services, 10 controlling groups of using fresh water in rural areas, 230 high-productivity clubs.

After 1 year of establishment and running, branch of cooperative and agricultural development has cooperated closely to economic bureau of communes, Long Khanh Town and Bien Hoa city to open 76 training classes of cooperative laws and documents under laws for 4200 key executives of wards, communes, cooperative groups, and clubs. According to schedule of December, cooperative and agricultural developing branch opens 3 classes to improve managerial mission and professional skills for heading board, controlling board, and accountants of 64 agricultural cooperatives.

(Translated by THKC)