Farmers’ co-operation program is developed in Bashkiria

UFA, 27 April 2015. /Bashinform News Agency, Elvira Latypova/. In Bashkortostan a program of farmers’ cooperation development is worked out. This was reported by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic Ildar Timergalin. According to him, the cooperation will make budget support of small farms targeted and more efficient, and allow farmers developing dynamically and competing with large farmers for the shelves in stores.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, cooperation will lead to the consolidation of farms:

“The co-op farmers will earn many times more. It is one thing - to sell meat in live weight or grain, and quite another – sell the final products: the added value is different. Naturally, they will consolidate. Over time, the share of farmers in total agricultural production of the republic will not be seven percent, as it is now, but more.”

Cooperation will help farmers to appear on store shelves, Ildar Timergalin said.

As an example of successful cooperation Ildar Timergalin cited the experience of Finland:

“There are a lot of farmers there, and they are all in cooperatives. The co-ops make produces, purchase fuel, spare parts for machinery. There are even co-operative banks, which give loans to farmers. We need similar cooperation with a closed production cycle within the cooperative. This is especially important for our north-eastern regions, for the Trans-Urals. There are in fact no large farms there, just many small-scale farmers. The program of cooperation will help them to develop.”