Farmers in three districts yesterday forcibly took fertilisers, blocked roads, and confined a dealer.
In Kurigram, agitating farmers broke down the door of a warehouse in Collegapara under Roumari upazila around 10:00am after failing to buy fertilisers despite waiting for hours and made way with it.
But it could not be confirmed how much fertilisers were taken, but locals said more than one hundred sacks were taken away.
Eyewitnesses said farmers gathered near the warehouse, M/s Mita Hasan Enterprise, since early in the morning to buy fertiliser.
The queue became longer as the hours passed, said Habibur Rahman, 60, a farmer from Bandaber village.
As fertiliser sales had not started even after 9:00am, frustration and anger grew among the farmers waiting in queue.
At one point, they broke open the warehouse door, entered the premises and took away sacks of fertiliser, he said.
Fertiliser dealer Saiful Islam said he had 750 sacks of fertiliser in his warehouse. He could not immediately say how many sacks had been taken.
Fertiliser sales at his shop were scheduled to begin at 9:30am.
“When I reached the area, I saw that over 1,000 farmers had lined up to buy fertiliser -- they were pushing and shoving to get fertiliser first.”
Seeing the chaotic situation, he left the area and went to the police station and the upazila nirbahi officer’s (UNO) office.
“While I was sitting at the UNO’s office, I got the information that farmers had broken open the door of my warehouse and were taking away fertiliser,” he said.
Roumari Upazila Agriculture Officer Mahbubul Alam Basunia said there is no fertiliser shortage in the upazila and there would be no problem if farmers collect fertiliser patiently.
The officer confirmed that there was chaos in a fertiliser sales point, but he did not confirm whether fertilisers were taken away or not.
Meanwhile, a separate group of farmers blocked Bhurungamari-Sonahat land port road for an hour at Bridgepar area under Kurigram’s Bhurungamari upazila, demanding fertiliser. The incident took place around 10:00am.
On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and assured the farmers to ensure the quick supply of fertilisers. Then, farmers withdrew the blockade, said Bhurungamari Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Azim Uddin.
The situation returned to normal after the farmers withdrew the blockade following assurances from police and the upazila administration.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdul Jabbar and Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer Habibur Rahman Habib were present at the dealer point during the incident.
In Lalmonirhat, farmers blocked the Rangpur-Kurigram highway for around an hour at Fakirertokeya area under Sadar upazila, demanding fertilisers.
The incident took place around 11:00am. On receiving information, officials of the agriculture department, local admonition and police rushed to the spot and assured the farmers to ensure quick supply of fertilisers, said witnesses.
A local farmer Nurul Haque, 60, said that they did not get fertilisers for several days.
In a separate incident at the same upazila, farmers confined a dealer inside his shop for about an hour at Barabari Haat area, demanding fertilisers.
Mononita Das, Lalmonirhat Sadar UNO, said there is no fertiliser shortage.
“However, a group of people is inciting farmers to block roads and hold demonstrations demanding fertiliser. We have explained the situation to the farmers and assured them that they would receive fertiliser according to their needs,” she said.
In Rajshahi, farmers blockaded the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway in Puthia upazila for around one and a half hours around 10:00am protesting fertiliser shortages and overpricing.
They said that fertiliser remains unavailable at authorised dealers’ shops but can be found at retail shops at higher prices.
Following talks, Puthia UNO Liaquat Salman assured the farmers that fertilisers would be supplied quickly at government-fixed prices and action would be taken against unscrupulous dealers.
The farmers withdrew the blockade after the assurance and traffic resumed after 11:30am.
Local dealer and president of the Rajshahi District Fertiliser and Pesticide Committee Osman Ali, however, denied any shortage of urea, saying he had 1,040 sacks, or 51 tonnes, in stock.
[Our correspondents from Lalmonirhat and Rajshahi contributed to the report]
