Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Transformation of the Agricultural Holdings and the Credit Financing of the Rural Areas
Vladimir Stipetić
; Hrvatska akademija znanosti umjetnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The author is reflecting on the role of finances, the force which following the breakthrough of the monetary economy - since money
becomes the principal mean of exchange and measure of value
- has enabled the creation of the economically sustainable agricultural estate with the comparable income to the urban income.
The author points out how the conversion of natural peasant's holdings into commodity and market holdings was enabled by the
development of mutual Ioan co-operative institutions that credited
the low-accumulative and indebted holdings to develop their production. In the first part of this article the role of mutual credit
co-operative institutions in Croatia is described. Due to accumulated
debts, a very narrow market, a small purchasing power and the
inexistence of money/banking institutions, and following the abolition
of serfdom in the 19th century, and especially at the time of the
European agricultural crises in 1873 the already disastrous situation
of the farmer was made even worse. As the main condition of
conversion of agricultural holdings into commodity and market
holdings and their development, credit financing was established
through the growth of the agricultural co-operative movement
who's first and main forms were mutual Ioan co-operative institutions modeled on Austrian Reiffeisen rural savings banks.
In Croatia and Slavonia from 1864 when the first such co-operative
was established, up to 1913 the number of mutual Ioan co-operatives has risen to 832 and the credit potential of the mutual
Ioan co-operative institutions has increased 11 times in 22 years!
Due to loans the Croatian rural areas managed to catch up with the
development of capitalism in Central Europe, the farmer became
independent, a small entrepreneur, seeking for new ways of production, and fighting for a greater income of his holding. The
second part of this article analyses the role of credit financing in
the development of the agriculture following the technological revolution in the second half of the 20 century, whose main prerequisite was rationalization and lowering of the expenses per
product unit. Only the producer earning an income comparable
to the income in the non-agricultural sector (where income is
constantly growing) can survive in the agricultural global market.
As a result, a rapid alteration in the structure of the agricultural
holdings occurs - there is a reduction in the number of holdings
and a parallel process of growth of the remaining estates (in the
developed countries only 15% of the estates have survived the
20th century by increasing their average farm surface by three to
five times), as well as a constant growth of investment by farm
(for machinery, innovations, purchase of land and increase of the
cattle stock). It is impossible to finance the investments trough
current income of the estate and it is, therefore, necessary to use
loans: the developed countries have created a diversified incentive
system of credit financing. Since, according to those indicators,
Croatia is falling behind and the Croatian agriculture and the rural
areas are facing a crisis at the beginning of the 21th century, the
author believes a decisive action is necessary in order to secure
conditions for revitalization of its rural areas through changes in the
banking system.
Ključne riječi
peasant's agricultural holding; rural development; co-operative movement; crisis; credit financing
Hrčak ID:
32870
URI
Datum izdavanja:
4.2.2009.
Posjeta: 3.226 *