Gandhinagar, Sep 18 (IANS) In growing ‘atmanirbharata’ for Gujarat women, Banaskantha’s Maniben has set a new benchmark by selling milk worth Rs 1.94 crore in past one year and is now raring to take it to Rs 3 crore by next year.

Maniben’s success story has encouraged other women folks of the city, who see her as ‘inspirational icon’ and aspire to follow her path towards self-reliance.

With Rs 1.94 crore sales, she has been ranked second in Banaskantha district and is now working towards a new target of achieving Rs 3 crore in sales.

The 65-year-old Maniben Jesung Chaudhary, a resident of Kasara village in Kankrej taluka, supplies 1,100 litres of milk daily to the local The Patelvas (Kasara) Milk Producers’ Cooperative Society.

In 2024-25, she supplied 3,47,180 litres of milk worth Rs 1,94,05,047.

This achievement earned her second place in the “Best Banas Lakshmi” category in Banaskantha district. She was also honoured with a certificate of recognition.

Maniben aims to take this success to greater heights.

Her youngest son, Vipul told media, “With proper guidance from Banas Dairy, we are progressing well in this field. In 2011, we had only 10 to 12 cows and buffaloes, which has now grown to over 230. At present, we have 140 adult buffaloes, 90 cows, and about 70 calves. This year, we plan to purchase 100 more buffaloes to boost milk production. By the end of the year, we are preparing to sell milk worth over Rs 3 crore.”

To support this, her family has set up sheds for the care of their cattle.

They rear Banni, Mehsani, and Murrah breeds of buffaloes, along with Holstein Friesian cows and four indigenous Kankrej breed cows.

At present, about 16 families are associated with Maniben in animal husbandry activities.

Milking of cows and buffaloes is carried out with the help of modern machinery, while family members actively contribute to every aspect of the work, setting an example of Aatmanirbharta.

Vipul also shared, “All three of us brothers are graduates and fully engaged in this work. As incomes in animal husbandry continue to rise, many young people will be encouraged to take up this profession.”

Notably, women play pivotal role in Gujarat’s animal husbandry sector through dairy cooperatives and self-help groups.

Of the state’s 16,000-plus milk producers’ cooperative societies, around 4,150 are managed by women.

Out of more than 36 lakh members across Gujarat, over 11 lakh are women.

Their contribution is noteworthy in large dairies such as Banas Dairy, which collects nearly 90 lakh litres of milk daily, where women in animal husbandry play a remarkable role.

In Banas Dairy, many women members have enhanced their economic stability by supplying milk worth more than Rs 50 lakh annually.

–IANS

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