Didar Singh Bains

Didar Singh Bains is known the as the peach king of California and is one of the richest Sikh farmers in North America. He arrived in America with just $8 in his pocket saw the potenital of land for farming in California and has now become one of the wealthiest men in Northern California, worth somewhere in the region of $50 million. Didar started out driving tractors and irrigating orchards for 75 cents an hour, he did the work of four men, and soon bought his first peach orchard. He bought another, then another, and by 1978, had become the largest peach grower in California. His first name roughly means "visionary" in Punjabi, today he owns more than 40 pockets of land in 13 counties, including 667 acres next to Sacramento International Airport and much of rapidly developing western Yuba City. He has always been a leading figure in the Sikh community for the last 20 years. Before 1983 he was the head of the North America Akali Dal. After the Blue Star Operation in Amritsar he became the president of the World Sikh organization. In 1985, he became the founder chairman of the World Kabbadi federation. He is also acknowledged as the founder of the Annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City where nearly 100,000 Sikhs come together is the largest gathering of Sikhs in America. He is also a member of the World Sikh Council.