A STUDY INTO MARKETING-CUM-PROCESSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN PUNJAB WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MULLANPUR SOCIETY

The cooperative movement in India was started by far-sighted colonial officials and later became an instrument of the development state in the post-Independence era. To eliminate the middlemen from the marketing activities and provide better price for agricultural producers the cooperative marketing societies were established with the enactment of Cooperative Act, 1912. Cooperative marketing societies are organized by the farmers themselves and the profits are distributed among the members based on the quantity of the produce marketed by them. This study reviews performance of co-operative marketing societies in Punjab. The study was based on secondary as well as primary data. The case study was carried out for The Mullanpur Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Limited, Mullanpur. The reference period for the case study was taken from 2002-03 to 2012-13 according to the availability of the data. The empirical results show that number of societies and members are declining in this sector with positive and satisfactory performance of cooperative societies over the last two decades in Punjab.