Agroeconomia Croatica, Vol. 11 No. 1, 2021.
Review article
Velika Pisanica agricultural cooperative: an example of good practice of agricultural cooperatives in Croatia
Sandra Kantar
orcid.org/0000-0003-0992-0383
; Križevci College of Agriculture, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Croatia
Kristina Svržnjak
orcid.org/0000-0002-0064-1735
; Križevci College of Agriculture, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Croatia
Barbara Imbriša
; Križevci College of Agriculture, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Croatia
Dragutin Kamenjak
; Križevci College of Agriculture, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Croatia
Abstract
The subject of this paper is a review of agricultural cooperatives on the example of historical and socio-economic analysis of the Velika Pisanica agricultural cooperative, which has been operating continuously for 75 years. The cooperative is a business model that encourages the exploitation of the potential of small Croatian agricultural producers, and offers their agricultural products throughout the year. By supporting the production and safe placement of the products of its cooperative members, the Cooperative still enjoys the great trust of agricultural producers. Although the Cooperative operated in two different socio-political systems, it managed to adapt to changes in society and keep the business successful. Thanks to the professional management of the Cooperativ, great flexibility in business, and the importance of education for employees and cooperative members, the Cooperative has made an immeasurable contribution to the local community. However, a great challenge for the survival of the Cooperative in the future are young farmers who are unfortunately less and less interested in agriculture. The paper is methodologically based on the analysis of archival and internal documents of the Cooperative, and data obtained from interviews with its manager. With this paper, the authors want to highlight the Cooperative as a positive example of a specific business model that has been unfairly neglected in the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
269950
URI
Publication date:
25.12.2021.
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