The State government will bring all products from the cooperative sector under one umbrella and create an efficient marketing platform for the products. Sources in the Department of Cooperation say cooperatives have a wide variety of products that ranged from information technology tools to agricultural products. These will be brought under the Coop Mark. Coop Marts are being established as a common marketing facility for these products, sources add. There has been commendable progress in the functioning of the cooperatives, which have taken initiatives in several fields of economic activities, including production and services. The success of the Uralungal construction and labour contract cooperative society is just one of the noted ones while there have also been cooperatives successfully engaged in vegetable and fruit production like the Palliyakkal Service Cooperative Bank in Ernakulam district. There have also been cooperatives that are engaged in value addition of agricultural production like the Varapetty Service Cooperative Bank, which has ventured successfully into exporting processed cassava and banana chips as well as high quality coconut oil. It is estimated that there are around 19,000 cooperatives in the State. These entities have acted as vehicles of financial support for various levels of activities and aided industrial units as well as farming operations.
