The Government of Gujarat had established the Gujarat Agricultural University in the state vide Gujarat Act, No. 13 of 1969. The Government of Gujarat repealed Gujarat Agricultural University Act, 1969 and promulgated GAUs Act, No. 5 of 2004. Accordingly, Four State Agricultural Universities have been carved out from erstwhile GAU, S. D. Agricultural University being one of them.
The jurisdiction of S. D. Agricultural University is Seven Districts of North Gujarat region viz., Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Patan, Gandhinagar, Kachchh and Aravalli. SDAU is established for the better development of Agriculture and allied sectors in the North Gujarat Agro-climatic Zone. The SDAU is aimed to serve the agricultural interest for the economic development of the farming community of North Gujarat region. S. D. Agricultural University has 8 colleges, 28 Research Stations and 3 KVKs in the jurisdiction.