Bablu, a farmer from Kajihata village in Godagari, Rajshahi, has cultivated Aman rice on 10 bighas of land this year. He needs urea for his fields but could not obtain any from the distributor in his own village.

On Tuesday morning, he went to the shop of a distributor in Deopara union, near Damkura Bazar. After waiting in a long queue, he was offered only 20 kg of fertiliser. Disappointed, Bablu, 50, returned home without taking it.

Farmers now need fertiliser for their Aman rice fields. Like Bablu, they are crowding government-appointed distributors’ shops to obtain supplies. A field visit to Rajshahi found that one shop had DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) but no urea, while another had TSP (Triple Super Phosphate) but no DAP.

In some places where fertiliser is available, however, farmers are having to pay higher prices. Meanwhile, in Jashore, there are reports of a shortage of TSP fertiliser as well as allegations that other fertilisers are being sold at inflated prices on the open market.