AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

CO-OPERATIVE FARMING

Co-operative farming which implies pooling of land and joint. management has a direct relevance in the implementation of a progressive agricultural economy. For, without undermining the sense of proprietorship and the accompanying incentive of industry it carries, one can say, that co-operative farming brings with it all advantages that a larger farm may possess. Co-operative farming may assume different forms, the most common among them being collective farming, tenant-farming, better farming and joint farming.

The co-operative collective farming society undertakes the cultivation of land owned or taken on lease. No dividend is paid on share capital. Members are entitled to claim wages for their labour and bonus too, which is distributed only in the case of profits, pro rata their wages. They can, if they so desire, with-draw membership in which case they are entitled to ask for a refund of capital.

The co-operative tenant-farming society does not undertake the cultivation of land as described above. It owns land or acquires it on lease for its division into blocks, each block being given on a rental basis to the tiller, who is asked to produce in accordance with the plan as may be laid down by the society. The members can enjoy all facilities in respect of seed, finance and implements.

The co-operative better farming society is an organisation in which ownership as well as management of land rest with the individual. The society provides its members better seed and manures and extends facilities for irrigation, storage and marketing. The co-operative joint farming society is one in which the land of a small owner is pooled into one unit, though proprietorship rests with individual members. It enjoys advantages of large-scale farming and is hence best suited for eradicating the evils of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings.

However, in actual practice, co-operative farming in the district assumes exclusively the form of tenant-farming. The following table summarises the position of the societies, in 1959:—

TABLE No. 36

DETAILS OF TENANT-FARMING SOCIETIES IN KOLABA DISTRICT (1959).

Of these societies, the one at Dapoli in the Roha taluka has been functioning with a total land measuring about eighteen acres. It has taken a loan of Rs. 7,000 from the Government and utilised the same in the construction of a sluice gate. Of the six societies on the roll, only one referred to above was functioning in 1959, while the remaining ones could not continue with their operations for want of land, owned or leased. Furthermore, due to the implementation of the Tenancy Act, it has been all the more difficult for agriculturists to pool their immoveable property for the purpose of collective cultivation. The district has one irrigation society at Bhadav in the Mangaon taluka. The irrigation scheme of the society involved an expenditure of Rs. 7,480, which was reimbursed by the Government, half as a subsidy and the remaining half as a loan. The society grows vegetables in an area measuring about ten acres.

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