THE Nagpur Resol ut i on on co

operat i ve f a r mi ng i s bei ng
debated in a manner whi c h is
l i kel y t o i nhi bi t a dispassionate
consi derat i on of several issues,
bot h concept ual and operat i onal ,
i nvol ved i n i t . An emot i onal l y sur-
charged at mosphere wi l l pr obabl y
be requi red f or t he I mpl ement at i on
of a pr ogr amme of agr ar i an re-
const r uct i on as r adi cal as t he one
adumbr at ed i n t he Nagpur Resolu
t l on. Bu t t ha t does not mean t hat
persons on wh o m l ess t he responsi
bi l i t y f or t he i mpl ement at i on of
the pr ogr amme can af f or d t o r emai n
bl i ssf ul l y unconcerned about t he
knot t y issues wi t h whi ch t he pr o-
bl em bri st l es.
People's Participation
I nci dent al l y, t hi s raises t he ver y
fi rst issue as t o who exact l y wi l l
be ent rust ed wi t h t he i mpl ement a-
t i on of t he pr ogr amme. To say
t hat such a pr ogr amme cannot be
i mpl ement ed wi t hout "t he act i ve
par t i ci pat i on of t he people" i s not
very enl i ght eni ng and may even be
a sympt om of i nt el l ect ual e mpt i -
ness. It i s obvi ous t hat a pr ogr amme
l i ke t hi s cannot be i mpl ement ed
excl usi vel y by t he depar t ment al
agencies of t he Government . The ex-
perience of non-communi st count ri es
wi t h a record of successful i mpl e-
ment at i on of l and reforms e g.
Japan also indicates t he cr uci al
i mpor t ance of regi onal and l ocal
or gani sat i ons such as vi l l age c om-
mi t t ees.
I f , as i s post ul at ed i n t he Resol u-
t i on, the Panchayat s I n I ndi a are
t o pl ay t hi s cr uci al role, t he
colossal t ask of equi ppi ng t hem
wi t h t he requi si t e t echni cal and
or gani zat i onal know- how woul d
need t o be t ackl ed. Such r adi cal
measures have also been success-
f ul l y' i mpl ement ed i n the c o mmu -
ni st count ri es. ( Al l t hat i s i mpl i ed
I n cal l i ng t hem ' successful' i s t ha t
t he or gani zat i onal change was
effected.) I n these countries, t he
ma i n rel i ance was on Communi s t
Pa r t y cadres. I t i s for our consi-
der at i on whet her we, i n I ndi a,
woul d l i ke t o use t he i ns t r ument of
pa r t y cadres f or t hi s purpose,
t a k i n g i nt o consi derat i on a l l i t s
pol i t i cal i mpl i cat i ons. As i t is,
even the par t y i n power cannot
cl ai m t o have i n readiness such a
wel l - t r ai ned cadre of pol i t i cal
wor ker s wi t h t he necessary ideo
l ogi cal convi ct i on and or gani zat i onal
di sci pl i ne.
'Firm and Plant Approach'
The second poi nt to whi ch I
woul d l i ke t o refer i s t hat of
defi ni t i on and concept of co-opera
t i ve f a r mi ng. The Nagpur Resol u-
t i on defi ni t el y postulates "pool i ng
of l and f or j oi nt cul t i vat i on" .
Presumabl y, what i s i mpl i ed by
' pool i ng and j oi nt cul t i vat i on' i s the
mer gi ng of al l l and t o const i t ut e
one single f a r m. At a Semi nar on
Co-operat i ve Fa r mi ng, organi sed
by t he I ndi a n Society of Ag r i c u l -
t ur a l Economi cs, t hi s question was
ver y t hought f ul l y discussed. Pr o-
fessor D R Gadgl l , wi t h his usual
i nci si ve logic, contended t hat
pool i ng of l and and j oi nt cul t i vat i on
is a mat t er of secondary decision.
He recommended wha t may be
called, a ' Fi r m and Pl ant Appr oach' .
Thi s woul d i mpl y t hat al l i mpor t ant
decisions woul d be t aken by the
firm, i e, the general body of the
co-operat i ve. Thi s body woul d
have the freedom and t he aut hor i t y
t o det ermi ne, among ot her t hi ngs,
the farm-size pat t er n. I t may
decide t o pool al l t he l and or may
prefer t o ar r ange i t i n separate
bl ocks as Indi cat ed by agr onomi c
condi t i ons.
Whet her t he cul t i vat i on i s j oi nt
or not , the i mpor t ant poi nt i s t hat
co-operat i ve f a r mi ng woul d i mpl y
t r ansf er of decision ma k i n g aut ho-
r i t y ( r i ght ) i n r egar d t o al l i mpor t ant
mat t er s f r o m the i ndi vi dual t o the
col l ect i ve body of al l cul t i vat or s.
The degree of aut onomy whi ch i s
per mi t t ed by the co-operative ( f i r m)
t o i t s const i t uent uni t s ( f a r ms /
pl ant s) is a quest i on of pr agmat i c
decision and need not be deter
mi ned i n advance on a p r i o r i ideo-
l ogi cal grounds. Pool i ng of l and
and j oi nt cul t i vat i on need not , so
t o say, be wr i t t e n i n t he const i t ut i on
of t he co-operat i ve. One si gni f i cant
advant age of such a modi f i cat i on
woul d be t o make t he conf l i ct i ng
vi ews about t he economies of scale
319
I r r el evant i n deci di ng on the mer i t s
Of co-operat i ve f ar mi ng. The co-
operat i ve woul d be free to adopt
i nt ensi ve f ar mi ng, i f such a pat t er n
appeared to be advant ageous.
Small or Large Farms?
The mer i t of an agr ar i an pat t er n
can be j udged onl y i n t erms of the
objective it seeks to serve. Br oadl y,
these objectives are st at ed to be
economic efficiency and social
j ust i ce. Whi c h of these t wo, or
how much of each, the co operat i ve
j oi nt f a r mi ng wi l l serve, needs t o
be exami ned. The economic efficien
cy of agr i cul t ur e can be j udged by
pr oduct i vi t y and mar ket abl e surplus.
Since the Resol ut i on suggests t hat
l and wi l l be pooled f or j oi nt
cul t i vat i on, i t woul d appear t hat the
expect at i on i s t hat co-operat i ve
f a r mi ng wi l l help i n securi ng the
economies of scale. Dur i ng the
debate on the Resol ut i on, several
speakers had ment i oned t hat I ndi an
agr i cul t ur e suffered f r om the exis
tence of too many t i ny and scat
t ered hol di ngs and t hat one coul d
not expect i mpr ovement i n produc-
t i on under such ci rcumst ances. A
poi nt whi ch needs emphasis here is
the di st i nct i on between the per-
acre product i on and pr oduct i vi t y
i n t he i nput - out put sense. In so
far as product i on per acre is con-
cerned, i t i s not at al l proved t hat
smal l f ar ms are i nf er i or . The dat a
avai l abl e f r om t he f a r m manage-
ment surveys, whi ch were recent l y
conducted under t he R P C , i ndi cat e
t hat for food crops, at any rat e,
the per acre yi el d on t he smal l
f a r m i s l ar ger t ha n t hat on the
bi gger farms.
Thi s is t he posi t i on under the
present set up. It i s wel l - known
t hat s mal l f ar mer s suffer f r om
many handi caps i n t he mat t er of
supply of credi t as wel l as supply
of seeds, manure, etc. Some of
these coul d be overcome t hr ough
service co-operat i ves, wi t hout neces-
s ar i l y any change in the size of
t he uni t . I n compar i ng the rel at i ve
mer i t s of the smal l and the l arge-
sized farms, or i ndi vi dual and co-
operat i ve f ar mi ng, It i s but f ai r t o
assume t he existence of the same
favourabl e (or unf avour abl e) si t ua-
Co-operative Farmi ng
Wi l l It Augment Marketable Surplus ?
M L Dantwala
February 28, 1959
t i on i n r egar d t o anci l l ar y services.
On t he whol e, i t woul d t herefore
appear t hat i n t he mat t er of yi el d
per acre, at any rat e, t he l ar ger
f ar ms do not have any definite
advant age. Here is one more
reason why, as suggested earlier,
it is not necessary to decide in
advance t hat co-operative f a r mi ng
woul d necessarily i mpl y pool i ng of
l and f or purposes of Joint cul t i va-
t i on. A decision i n t hi s mat t er
ma y be left t o t he panchayat or
t he co-operative whi ch wi l l decide
i n the l i ght of t he condi t i ons i n
t hei r own vi l l age.
Man - Land Ratio
As for pr oduct i vi t y whi ch woul d
det ermi ne the r et ur n (i ncome) t o
l abour, t hi s woul d depend ma i nl y on
the man- l and r at i o as i t woul d
emerge aft er pool i ng of al l the
resources. I f , al ong wi t h the
pool i ng of l and, al l the exi st i ng
cul t i vat or s and a few mor e of l and-
less l abourers are accommodat ed
on t he co-operat i ve f ar m, there
wi l l be no i mpr ovement - and t here
ma y be even some det er i or at i on
- ' i n the new man- l and r at i o, and
t hi s wi l l have a depressing effect
on t he r et ur n whi c h wor ker s on
the co-operative f a r m wi l l re-
ceive. I n t hi s connect i on, i t i s
ar gued t hat doi ng a wa y wi t h i ndi -
vi dual owner shi p and pool i ng of
a l l resources woul d open up possi-
bi l i t i es of under t aki ng develop-
ment al act i vi t y such as soil
conservat i on, l evel l i ng, bundi ng,
l ayout of fi el d channel s etc whi ch
has t o cont end agai nst numerous
obstacles under t he exi s t i ng si t ua-
t i on, and t hereby enl arge t he scope
f or product i ve empl oyment wi t h i n
the agr i cul t ur al sector i t sel f.
Fur t her , co-operat i ve f a r mi ng
wi l l f aci l i t at e the release of surplus
l abour of i ndi vi dual f ar mer s who,
under the exi st i ng condi t i ons, are
t i ed down t o t hei r smal l uni t s ; and
t hough unempl oyed over consi dera-
ble periods, are oft en not avai l abl e
f or al t er nat e empl oyment . Thus,
co-operat i ve f a r mi ng opens up, on
the one hand, opport uni t i es f or
devel opment al wor k i n agr i cul t ur e,
and, on the other, also makes t he
disguised surplus l abour avai l abl e
for al t er nat e empl oyment . I t shoul d
however be cl earl y recognised t hat ,
even wi t h t he addi t i on of develop-
ment al act i vi t i es, i f a large number
of landless l abourers are accom-
modat ed on t he co-operat i ve f ar m,
the average Income of the members
may be less, t hough mor e equal ,
t ha n t hat of t he i ndi vi dual f ar mer s
at present. I f , on t he ot her hand,
the co-operative f a r m woul d i nsi st ,
as i t may, on t a k i n g up onl y an
opt i mum quant um of l abour force,
i t wi l l be mer el y conver t i ng t he
disguised unempl oyment i nt o open
unempl oyment and t r ans f er r i ng t he
responsi bi l i t y of i t s gai nf ul absorp-
t i on on some one else.
Mobilising the Surplus
Anot her i mpor t ant obj ect i ve whi ch
t he pl anners woul d l i ke t o achieve
t hr ough co-operat i ve f a r mi ng i s
mobi l i zat i on of surpl us bot h f or
the purposes of r ei nvest ment
( capi t al f or mat i on) and f or ma i n-
t a i ni ng an adequate supply f or
ur ban consumpt i on. The i mpor -
tance of reasonabl y stable prices
of foodgrai ns t o t he developmen-
t a l effort s of t he count r y i s uni ver -
sal l y recognised, and success i n
t hi s fi el d wi l l depend as much on
t he avai l abi l i t y of mar ket abl e
surpl us as on pr oduct i on. I t woul d
t herefore be pert i nent to enqui re
whet her co-operative f a r mi ng as a
f or m of pr oduct i on woul d be a mor e
sui t abl e i nst r ument f or mobi l i za-
t i on of t he surplus. Ot her t hi ngs
bei ng equal, i t i s obvi ous t ha t purel y
f r om t he poi nt of vi ew of admi ni s-
t r at i ve ar r angement , i t wi l l be
easier t o collect t he surplus f r om
t he fewer, organi sed uni t s of pr o-
duct i on such as a co-operative
f a r m t ha n i t woul d be i f i t were t o
be collected f r om a l arge number of
s mal l and scat t ered f ar ms. I n fact ,
one of t he ma i n at t r act i ons of t he
co-operative (col l ect i ve) f a r mi ng
st r uct ur e i n t he communi st coun-
t ri es was t hi s f aci l i t y f or mobi l i -
zat i on of t he surpl us whi c h t hi s
t ype of or gani sat i on offers.
The Machi ne Tr act or St at i ons
whi ch were, so t o say, the com-
muni s t versi on of service co-opera-
tives, per f or med t hi s f unct i on. Bu t
i t shoul d be emphasised t ha t t hi s
advant age coul d accrue ma i nl y
because (a) payment s f or services
rendered by t he MTS were pr i or
charge on t he produce, and ( b)
of t he syst em of compul sor y del i -
veries of produce of r el at i vel y l ow
prices. In the absence of these
t wo coercive devices, i t i s doubt f ul
whet her t he co-operative f ar ms i n
I ndi a woul d f aci l i t at e mobi l i zat i on
of surplus.
Higher Retention Probable
I t i s even probabl e t ha t t he out -
come ma y be cur t ai l ment of t he
330
surpl us. The concern wi t h soci al
j ust i ce and t he obj ect i ve of i mpr ov-
i ng the l i v i n g st andar d of t he c ul t i -
vat ors, associated wi t h t he proposal ,
woul d i mp l y hi gher r ur a l consump-
t i on t han at present a nd correspond-
i ngl y smal l er mar ket abl e surpl us.
Thi s woul d be par t i cul ar l y so, i f ,
by accommodat i ng t he landless
l abourers and ot her under-empl oyed
persons i n the vi l l age on t he co-
operat i ve f a r m, t he st at e i mpl i ci t l y
under wr i t es adequate subsistence
t o t he ent i r e f a r mi ng popul at i on,
i rrespect i ve of whet her ' or not
enough pr oduct i ve empl oyment i s
avai l abl e on t he f a r m.
At present, even a subsistence
f a r m, t o t he ext ent of i t s +requi re-
ment f or cash, has to release a
por t i on of i t s produce f or t he
mar ket . The par t i ci pant s on t he
co-operat i ve f a r m, however, woul d
be f ul l y j ust i f i ed i n t hei r cl ai m t o
r et ai n as much of t he produce of
the f a r m as woul d be needed for
ma i nt a i ni ng an i mpr oved st andar d
of l i vi ng. An d unl i ke t he com-
muni st state, t he Gover nment here
wi l l not , and must not, dare t o
collect any t h i n g f r om t he co-
operat i ve f ar ms , f or such an
at t empt woul d be made t o appear
as expl oi t at i ve and responsible f or
ma i nt a i ni ng a l ow level of l i v i n g of
t he agr i cul t ur i s t , or pr event i ng i t s
cont i nui ng I mpr ovement .
Under t he present syst em, taxes
apar t f r om rent and i nt erest -
are t he fi rst charge on the f ar mer ' s
produce. Under state-sponsored co-
operat i ve f ar mi ng, a decent level
of l i v i n g f or t he f a r me r woul d be
t he first charge. Whi l e such a
change woul d be desirable, i t woul d
not augment the mar ket abl e surpl us.
Programmes for Special Area'
FOR areas deser vi ng special t r eat -
ment and emphasis i ndi vi dual
pr ogr ammes of devel opment are
needed. No uni f or m pat t er n can he
equal l y effective i n t he whol e count r y.
There are probl ems pecul i ar t o
di fferent areas, e g, desert and dr y
areas, coast al areas, h i l l y areas, t r i -
bal areas, and areas ar ound ci t i es
and bi g t owns.
To hel p f or mul at i on of such i ndi -
vi dual pr ogr ammes t he Mi n i s t r y of
Communi t y Devel opment and Co-
operat i on has sent det ai l ed sugges-
t i ons t o the St at e Gover nment s.
Di f f er ent cont ent s of t he pr ogr amme
under vari ous devel opment al heads
sui t ed t o t he vari ous areas have been
suggested.
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
February 28, 1959
321
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
February 28, 1959
326