Current trends in agricultural cooperation in Israel

Abstract

Since the establishment of the independent state of Israel, the main emphasis in the agricultural sector has been placed on the development of agricultural cooperatives, while funds have been purposefully allocated for their creation. Cooperatives have gone through signifi cant milestones in their development. The liberalization of the world economic complex off ered its own tools for the development of the Israeli economy, proclaiming the primacy of market principles, which imply a sharp reduction in government interference in the activities of the cooperative system. Today, Israel’s modern, highly effi cient cooperatives continue to dominate agriculture. The transition from a de facto monopoly in the agricultural sector with the need, on the one hand, to diversify the structure of production and management, on the other, while deepening specialization in accordance with the emerging conjuncture of the domestic and international food markets, ensured their de facto dominant position in the hierarchy of producers in the agricultural sector, in to a large extent ensuring the satisfaction of the country’s needs for food. It should be emphasized that the experience of Israel in the development of agricultural cooperation can and should, after critical consideration, be used in the form of its individual aspects in domestic practice.