The "concept of the co-operative identity" (consisting from the definition, aims and functions of cooperatives and the so-termed co-operative principles) serves as a general theoretical background for the economic analysis of agricultural co-operation. The development of Dutch dairy co-operatives is used as a case study example, which suitably illustrates and represents the processes taking pla...

*Okit su Branch, Fruit Tree Research Station, Okitsunakacho, Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka 424-02 **National Research lnstitute of Vegetables , Ornamental Plants and Tea, Ano-cho, Age-gun, Mie 514-23 ***Agricultural Technical Center , National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations, 5-5-1, Higashihachiman, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa 254 ****Chugoku National Agricultural Experiment Station , ...

The agriculture is traditional risky business, but in transition countries agricultural producers should face some additional difficulties. The agri-food chains are still suffering from underdeveloped market institutions creating severe barriers for price discovery and high transaction costs to co-ordinate market exchanges. Co-operatives are usually neglected as a possible governance structure ...

Strategies and best practices for the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops need to be developed and implemented with the participation of farmers and other stakeholders. According to the principle of 'subsidiarity', decisions should be made by the lowest authority possible. When applying this concept to the case of GM crops, the affected society should determine their use and management in a reg...

Editorial by Roger Spear ............................................................................................. 3 Communicating the Co-operative Message: A Case Study of the Irish Credit Union Movement by Olive McCarthy and Michael Ward .................. 8 Innovating a Joint Buying System through IT by Akira Kurimoto. ..................... 15 Social Movements and Co-operatives: Implicat...

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the progress and regional variations of crop production in Bangladesh. The secondary data were used and collected for the years 1980-81 to 2002-03 from the ‘Statistical Yearbooks of Bangladesh’, ‘Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics’ and population census of different years. The study was conducted during the period from September 2006 to February 2008. A...