How can the development vitality of farmers' cooperatives be fully stimulated?

Recently, nine departments including the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance, which form the national inter-ministerial joint conference on farmers' cooperative development, issued the "Opinions on Guiding and Promoting the Standardized Development of Farmers' Cooperatives," proposing from 12 aspects the tasks for strengthening the standardized construction of farmers' cooperatives. This is another landmark document since the promulgation and implementation of the "Law on Specialized Farmers' Cooperatives" 7 years ago. With the deepening of the agricultural industrialization process and the development of the rural market economy, it has become inevitable for farming households to join together and take the path of cooperative development. To better implement the opinions and fully stimulate the development vitality of specialized farmers' cooperatives, it is suggested that farmers' cooperatives focus their efforts on the following aspects:

Honest operation and a strong service atmosphere are the foundation for cooperative development. The main body of a cooperative is its members, who deal directly with farmers, and what farmers care about most is the quality of agricultural materials and the level of service. In the three-dimensional composite modern agricultural management system, household family operation is the foundation, cooperation and association are the link, and socialized services are the support. Judging from the situation of relatively successful farmers' cooperatives, an important reason why they can grow rapidly is that in the process of serving members, they pay more attention to quality and efficiency. It is necessary to always uphold the concept of honest operation and "letting members benefit," ensure that agricultural materials are of high quality and low price, and give members peace of mind, reassurance, and freedom from worry. At the same time, establish and improve a traceable agricultural product quality system, guide members to establish a production record system, and ensure product quality and the people's "safety on the tip of the tongue."

Strengthening guidance and reinforcing the team are the prerequisites for cooperative development. All cooperatives should take service as the central link, and through this central link of service drive the development of agricultural materials operation, agricultural machinery operations, crop planting, and purchasing and marketing. Both the No. 1 Central Documents of 2009 and 2013 proposed carrying out the construction of demonstration cooperatives and building demonstration cooperatives into benchmarks for standardized operation and the focus of policy support. It is suggested to adhere to the principle of "adapting measures to each cooperative, one policy for each cooperative," and vigorously do a good job in the "three batches," namely, for those that basically meet the registration conditions stipulated by law, persist in providing services to the cooperative and promptly "guide the registration of a batch"; for those already registered, focus on "supporting and upgrading a batch"; and for professional associations without an operating foundation as well as places with obvious industrial characteristics and strong public desire for cooperation, accelerate "cultivating and developing a batch." Efforts should be made to improve the quality of the leaders of farmers' cooperatives, incorporate the training of farmers' cooperative talent into the construction of the practical talent team and the modern agricultural talent support plan, and focus on training and improving the abilities of farmers' cooperative chairpersons in organizational management, entrepreneurial operation, market negotiation, product marketing, and other aspects.

Benefiting the people and policy support are the key to cooperative development. In the process of serving members, cooperatives should reduce costs as much as possible, appropriately compress profit margins, benefit the people, and let farmers truly obtain tangible benefits; only in this way can cooperatives grow and strengthen. It is suggested to study and issue preferential policies to support farmers' cooperatives so that the broad masses of farmer members truly benefit. In terms of industrial policy support, farmers' cooperatives should be regarded as an important aspect of implementing the national agricultural support and protection system and as organizational resources that can be relied upon, with priority given to farmers' cooperatives to undertake tasks or absorb farmers' cooperatives to participate. In terms of fiscal fund support, special development funds should be arranged for cooperative infrastructure construction, technology introduction, personnel training, loan interest subsidies, and so on. Implement and improve preferential tax policies for cooperatives, and support cooperatives in developing the production, processing, and circulation of agricultural products. In terms of construction land support, land used for production facilities and ancillary facilities of farmers' cooperatives should be managed as agricultural land, and where it conforms to urban planning, land use quotas should be arranged on a priority basis.

Standardized management and the establishment of rules and regulations are the guarantee for cooperative development. In the process of development, cooperatives must strictly follow the cooperative charter and always treat it as the fundamental system determining the direction of cooperative development. Establish and improve various systems such as financial accounting and cooperative affairs management, improve member accounts and archives, and enable cooperatives to run according to law and regulations and handle matters according to the charter and systems. Strengthen the registration work of cooperatives and treat it as the most basic condition for enjoying relevant support, carry out change and deregistration registration according to law, and regularly submit annual reports to the industrial and commercial authorities through the enterprise credit information publicity system. Guide cooperatives to establish and improve organizational bodies such as the (member) representative assembly, the board of directors, and the board of supervisors. Adhere to the bottom line of the legal system, clarify property rights relations, adhere to the "one person, one vote" democratic decision-making method, and focus on strengthening the supervision and management of farmers' cooperatives.