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Dilip Patel <\/strong><\/p>\n June 11, 2026 <\/strong>Ahmedabad<\/strong><\/p>\n Dudhsagar Dairy (Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd.), one of India\u2019s leading dairy cooperatives and the largest milk union in North Gujarat, recorded a turnover of approximately \u20b99,020 crore in 2025-26. The dairy is linked to more than 470,000 milk-producing farmers and has a membership base exceeding one million.<\/p>\n Despite this growth, milk producers across Mehsana, Patan, Gandhinagar and nearby districts have staged protests over milk procurement prices, rising cattle-feed costs and the distribution of cooperative profits.<\/p>\n The developments have raised an important question: Why is dissatisfaction growing among farmers despite the dairy\u2019s strong financial performance?<\/p>\n Dudhsagar Dairy remains one of the most influential cooperative institutions in North Gujarat.<\/p>\n Its average daily milk procurement increased from 3.488 million litres in 2024-25 to 3.634 million litres in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Apart from Mehsana, Patan and Gandhinagar, the dairy also procures milk from other states. Available information indicates that nearly one million kilograms of milk are procured daily from a network of around 500,000 farmers outside Gujarat.<\/p>\n More than 1,250 village milk cooperative societies are associated with the dairy.<\/p>\n Milk producers argue that the costs of cattle feed, fodder, medicines, electricity, labour and diesel have risen sharply over the past few years, while procurement prices have not kept pace.<\/p>\n Farmers\u2019 key concerns include:<\/p>\n At a livestock producers\u2019 convention held in Harij, Patan district, farmers openly demanded higher milk procurement prices.<\/p>\n Several participants expressed dissatisfaction with the dairy\u2019s pricing policies, arguing that dairy farming is becoming increasingly difficult for small producers due to rising costs.<\/p>\n In Dehgam and other areas of Gandhinagar district, dairy farmers staged protests by pouring milk onto roads.<\/p>\n Protesters argued that while the dairy\u2019s turnover and revenues continue to grow, producers are not receiving a proportionate share of the benefits.<\/p>\n The demonstrations intensified pressure on the dairy management to revise procurement prices.<\/p>\n Following the protests, Dudhsagar Dairy announced an increase in milk procurement prices.<\/p>\n The procurement rate was raised from \u20b9830 per kilogram of fat to \u20b9855 per kilogram of fat, representing an increase of \u20b925.<\/p>\n In addition, the dairy announced extra payments linked to SNF (Solid Non-Fat) content for the first time.<\/p>\n Management stated that the decision would improve farmers\u2019 incomes and encourage higher milk production.<\/p>\n Despite the increase, not all producers are satisfied.<\/p>\n Several farmer leaders argue that cattle-feed and fodder costs have increased by 25\u201340 percent over the past two years, making the latest price revision insufficient.<\/p>\n They contend that procurement prices should more accurately reflect inflation and production expenses.<\/p>\n The debate has also been fueled by comparisons with other major dairy cooperatives in Gujarat.<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, Dudhsagar Dairy farmers are demanding higher returns and additional bonus payments.<\/p>\n Dudhsagar Dairy is more than a cooperative enterprise; it is a key pillar of North Gujarat\u2019s rural economy.<\/p>\n Millions of rural residents in Mehsana, Patan and Gandhinagar depend directly or indirectly on dairy farming for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n An estimated 521,000 active milk producers are associated with the dairy network.<\/p>\n Available estimates suggest that between 400,000 and 500,000 milch animals contribute to the dairy\u2019s supply chain, including both buffaloes and cows.<\/p>\n While Dudhsagar Dairy has attempted to address farmer concerns through price increases, the gap between production costs and procurement prices remains a contentious issue.<\/p>\n On one hand, the cooperative has achieved a turnover of \u20b99,020 crore. On the other, producers continue to seek better prices, larger bonuses and a more equitable share of cooperative earnings.<\/p>\n For now, North Gujarat\u2019s dairy economy remains robust. The larger question, however, is how much of that prosperity ultimately reaches the farmers who form the foundation of the cooperative system.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dudhsagar Dairy\u2019s \u20b99,020-Crore Turnover, Yet Farmers Protest Over Milk Prices: Questions Raised from Mehsana to Dehgam Dilip Patel June 11, 2026 Ahmedabad Dudhsagar Dairy (Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd.), one of India\u2019s leading dairy cooperatives and the largest milk union in North Gujarat, recorded a turnover of approximately \u20b99,020 crore in 2025-26. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3,4763,54,38,41,7,4771],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUKPQ-e4I","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54109,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54108\/revisions\/54109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Expanding Dairy Empire<\/h2>\n
Why Are Farmers Unhappy?<\/h2>\n
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Discontent at Harij<\/h2>\n
Milk-Dumping Protest in Dehgam<\/h2>\n
Price Revision After Protests<\/h2>\n
Are Farmers Satisfied?<\/h2>\n
Comparison with Other Dairy Cooperatives<\/h2>\n
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The Backbone of North Gujarat\u2019s Rural Economy<\/h2>\n
The Road Ahead<\/h2>\n