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 fertilizers in time in Sadar upazila of Jamalpur on Monday.

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

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

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

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Contacted, Haidar Ali, the owner of the shop and approved dealer, said he only got 14 metric tonnes of fertilizer 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 fertilizer and the dealers are selling fertilizers as per the government directives."

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