The Organizational Operation of Farmers' Specialized Technology Association (FSTA) in Yuanshi County Hebei Province L'OPERATION ORGANISATIONNELLE DE L'ASSOCIATION DE TECHNOLOGIE SPECIALISEE DES PAYSANS(FSTA) DANS LA REGION YUANSHI DE LA PROVINCE DU HUBEI

Abstract: This paper examines NPO, a FSTA in Yushi County Hebei Province, focusing its organizational operation and evolvement process of property right system. The paper found that evolvement of property rights system is experiencing a 'Cooperative System [arrow right] Joint Stock Cooperative System [arrow right] Joint Stock System' process. Other newly established associations might replace the previous functions of mutual aid and service. Key words: Organizational Framework, Organizational Operation, Property Rights System Resume: Cet essai examine une organisation non lucrative, un FSTA dans la region Yuxi de la province du Hubei, se concentrant sur son operation organisationnelle et l'evolution de son systeme du droit de propriete. L'essai trouve que l'evolution du systeme du droit de propriete connait un tel processus : Systeme cooperatif [arrow right] Systeme cooperatif de stock joint [arrow right] Systeme de stock joint. D'autres associations dernieremment etablies pourraient remplacer les fonctions precedentes d'aide mutuelle et de service. Mots-Cles: cadre organisationnel, operation organisationnelle, systeme du droit de propriete 1. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO FSTAS' EMERGENCE Since the reform and opening up to the outside world, the widespread rural area of China has conducted the Responsibility System1 between 1979 and 1984, which has broken up the past policy of People Communes System. It has developed rural productivity as well as greatly improved output of farm produce, and solved farmers' living problems at a large level. However, although the Responsibility System is a more efficient systematic arrangement relative to Centralized Management by Production Team, with the improvement of rural productivity and the development of the commodity economy, the internal contradictions of the system have been gradually unveiled and turned into an important factor to innovation in the economic system in rural area. There are two basic prerequisites in the emergence of any rural cooperative economic organization: the development of a commodity economy and the widespread existence of independent commercial producers (Wang 1996:12). Since a series of reforms focusing on implementing the Responsibility System in wide rural areas of China, as a result, commodity economy has made rapid progress, and more than 200 million farmers have become independent commercial producers, which has laid the foundation for the emergence of rural cooperative economic organizations. As a result of this achievement, FSTA was established and it will be discussed it in details in the following section. 2. THE OUTLINE OF THE FSTA'S ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK The FSTA in Yuanshi County was founded in October 1992, when there was only a Breeding association. It has since successively established 7 specialized associations including an agricultural association, forestry and fruit association, vegetable association, edible mushroom association, apiculture association, dairy cow association, and a stock-cooperation committee (carrying out unified Capital running and financial management), which possesses more than 20,000 members (Gao 2004). These organizations are called Hebei Province Yuanshi County Agriculture Forestry & Stockbreeding Union.234 village-level associations were established in the whole county and nearby prefectures, and each of village-level associations has 1 or 2 directors. After many years' hard work, the FSTA has gradually become a rural cooperative organization; it is established an organizational network which has the following structure : the Union [arrow right] specialized associations [arrow right] village-level associations [arrow right] members. Its core activities are scientific technological demonstration, technological promotion, and technological service, while its content covers agriculture, forestry, stock fanning and processing. Furthermore there are clear regulations and archives management among the union from each association, village-level association to each member, and special director certificates and member certificates have been introduced. …