Farmers in Jamalpur block road after failing to purchase fertilisers

Vehicular movement on the Jamalpur-Mymensingh highway remained suspended for half an hour as several hundred farmers staged a demonstration by blocking the road after failing to purchase fertilisers in time in Jamalpur Sadar Upazila on Monday.

The farmers thronged the entrance of a fertiliser shop named M/s Haidar Traders in Nandina from 7 am to 9 am to purchase fertiliser, within the stipulated window for fertiliser sales at the shop, reports UNB.

But the shop never opened on Monday morning, and when the rally reached the area it halted vehicular movement.

Later, normal traffic resumed around 10 am as the farmers cleared the road following assurances from the Jamalpur Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO).

Contacted, Haidar Ali, the owner of the shop and approved dealer, said he only got 14 metric tonnes (MT) of fertiliser and he was able to keep only 7 MT in his shop at a time.

In the morning, he got frightened seeing the huge number of farmers in front of his shop and fled the scene. He questioned himself: “How could I distribute the meagre amount I had in stock (147 sacks, as he said) among the huge number of farmers?”

Litun Lorence, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer, said “There is no crisis of fertiliser and the dealers are selling fertilisers as per the government directives."

This year, 31 hectares of land have been brought under Aman cultivation in Sadar Upazila, and 928 MT of fertilisers have been allocated for this area, according to Dilruba Yeasmin, Upazila agriculture officer.