Talking to Indian Cooperative the newly elected Chairman Mahesh Patel of Gujarat based Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union aka Sabar Dairy has said ” we are devising a strategy to diversify our business for generating additional income”.
Mahesh Patel and Jayanti Patel have been elected unanimously as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Sabar Dairy. The election was held on Monday. Mahesh Patel replaces Jetha Patel from the top post.
The tenure of the newly elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman spans 2.5 years. Sabar Dairy is one of the 18 dairies of Gujarat associated with brand Amul.
“We are planning to produce fodder for cattle feed producers. The profit which we earn through diversification will be distributed among the farmers associated with the dairy. This will help in fulfilling PM Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling the income of farmers”, said Patel who is also on the board of Gujarat State Cooperative Union, the apex body of Gujarat Cooperatives.
Mahesh Patel told this correspondent on the phone that, “Our priority is to strengthen the farmers associated with the dairy. Our doors are always open when they need help from us”, said Patel who was earlier the Chairman 
of Sabarkantha District Central Cooperative Bank.
The area of operation of Sabar Dairy covers Sabarkantha and Aravalli Districts of Gujarat. “As we are operating in 13 tehsils and three tehsils having tribal areas, marketing of products in these areas is the main challenge for us”, noted Patel.
Sabar Dairy has plants at Rajasthan, Haryana and Hyderabad.
The Chairman revealed that the dairy procures on an average around 26 lakh liters of milk per day from around 3.5 lakhs cattle owners. Around 4 lakhs farmers are associated with the Sabar Dairy.
The Sabarkantha District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union was established in the year 1964 by collecting raw milk from 19 primary co-operative milk societies and supplying unprocessed milk to Ahmedabad Municipal Dairy.
