Amul model cooperatives in Saurashtra, Kutch doing well

Dairy cooperatives in Saurashtra and Kutch, formed on the Amul pattern, have successfully penetrated in the new regions and crossed the procurement of more than a million litre of milk per day.

"Today under the Anand pattern, out of total of 4954 villages in Saurastra region, 2503 village dairy cooperative societies (VDCS) are functional out of which 1519 have been registered. These societies are procuring 11 lakh Kgs of milk per day," said Sorath Junagadh district cooperative milk procurement union (SJDCMPU) in a press release.

In last few years, village dairy cooperative societies have been set up in districts like Junagadh, Amreli, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Kutch districts of Saurashtra and Kutch region.

District-wise figures of VDSC in these district are: 398 VDSC functional in Amreli, 487 in Bhavnagar, 90 in Kutch, 636 in Surendranagar, 262 in Junagadh and 630 in Rajkot.

The growth of dairy cooperatives has happened because of higher payment for procurement price of milk. Ramsinh Bhetaria, Chairman, Sorath Junagadh Milk Union said, "Milk procurement of the union has touched one lakh litre per day (LLPD) during the year and we target to procure three LLPD by next year".