Abstract
Although sugar cooperative societies in Maharashtra state are known for their excellence, the conditions have deteriorated due to non-availability of sufficient sugarcane after the introduction of economic liberalization policies in the 1990s. At the same time, there are cases of success where stability of the society members and management is achieved by setting up a divisional office (Regional Agricultural Center) and trying to fulfill the needs of society members. This article illustrates the validity of this strategy by analyzing a successful case and comparing it with another case where no such measures were adopted.
Adoption of such strategy has led to three outcomes: ‘improvement in productivity’, ‘reduced transaction cost’ and ‘effective control and arrangement of laborers’; and it is clearthat these are the main factors in the stabilization of society members. This analysis also indicates that for Indian farmers producing raw material, technical guidance, financial support, and support for reducing production cost are important. Constructing a system to provide such support is necessary.
