Effectiveness of cooperative model linking agricultural product consumption

Officials of the Women's Union of Dan Ly commune visited members of the production cooperative in the field.

The cooperative was established in 2018 with 25 members who are farmers with experience and technical skills in traditional vegetable growing in Dan Ly commune. With a production scale of 3.3 hectares, concentrated in village 4, the members have joined together to produce, share experiences and find markets to bring in a stable source of income. Ms. Do Thi Thanh is one of the members of the cooperative with 4 sao of growing seasonal vegetables quite effectively. Ms. Thanh realized that before, during and after Tet, the market demand is very high, so her family calculated the appropriate planting and care time frame, following the motto of each season has its own vegetables, thanks to which the family has a stable source of income.

Sharing about the early days of operating the cooperative, Ms. Dao Thi Hoa, director of the cooperative, said: Previously, households were used to mass planting and free consumption in the style of "each doing their own thing", so mobilizing and gathering households growing traditional vegetables to join together and help each other produce and consume products was not a simple matter. However, after the Women's Union of the district and commune guided and supported many stages; the local Party Committee and government paid attention and created favorable conditions; households with many years of experience in growing vegetables were willing to research and learn, so they took the lead in joining the cooperative, supporting the policy of building and operating, so the cooperative gradually operated more effectively.

With many years of experience as a women's association president, Ms. Dao and the commune Women's Union officials skillfully persuaded everyone to join the cooperative by mobilizing women. As the director, Ms. Dao, along with the management board, connected members, communicated the policies and directions of the higher-level association to members, sought outlets, organized production, and found outlets for agricultural products...

To achieve stable development, the cooperative members have made every effort to both improve the organizational structure and organize production and build effective business strategies. In terms of organization, the cooperative has improved the organizational structure according to the 2012 Cooperative Law with 25 members; ensuring all positions are in accordance with regulations. In terms of production, the cooperative has taken advantage of the attention of local Party committees, authorities and the Women's Union at higher levels and organized production with many types of vegetables in the direction of food safety, in accordance with VietGAP procedures. Therefore, vegetable growers must comply with production processes such as: fertilization days, use of safe biological fertilizers for both producers and consumers; households monitor each other to ensure compliance with the process. In 2019, some households piloted building net houses with a scale of 0.5 hectares to expand in the following years.

Clearly defining that growing vegetables for sale all year round but especially focusing on holidays and Tet, the source of vegetable consumption is greater, bringing high income to many households, so the Cooperative always orients the right time frame and signs a stable consumption market for households. Currently, the main market of the Cooperative is selling to small traders, restaurants, schools in Trieu Son, Thieu Hoa districts and Thanh Hoa city.

To support members and women to have conditions to develop sustainable production, the People's Committee of Dan Ly commune is interested in planning concentrated vegetable growing areas, renovating irrigation canal systems, irrigation water filtration tanks... to create favorable conditions for cooperative members to produce; the Women's Union of the commune is interested in, guiding, consulting and supporting the cooperative to operate effectively, such as training, building product brands... In 2018, the Women's Union of the commune connected the cooperative to participate in the startup product idea contest and won the typical award. Thereby, helping the vegetable growing profession of Dan Ly commune in general, and the cooperative producing and consuming safe agricultural products owned by women in particular, have more conditions to build brands and develop.

Up to now, on average, each cooperative member has an income of 30 to 40 million VND/year or more after deducting expenses; some households have an income of 70 million VND/year. The establishment of the cooperative is a necessary step to connect and expand production areas, creating motivation for people to exploit the potential and advantages of the locality to have a stable source of income, while contributing to promoting local agricultural production in the direction of concentrated production, bringing high economic value.

Article and photos: Le Ha

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/hieu-qua-mo-hinh-htx-lien-ket-tieu-thu-san-pham-nong-nghiep-248905.htm