Farmers in Jamalpur say they cannot get the urea they need for the Aman crop. Many wait for hours at dealers' shops and go home without it, and some report finding none even at a premium in the open market; if urea is not applied on time, they fear, Aman yields will fall. Dealer points across the district are crowded, some dealers are limiting sales to one sack a farmer, and several shops were found closed after selling out their allocation.

Alam Mia of Chhabilapur in Ghosherpar union has seven bighas of Aman. It is time to fertilise the rice, he said, but after three days of trying he had only two sacks against a need of at least four. Md Lalman of the same area paid for transport two days running, waited a whole day at the dealer's and went home empty-handed with no idea when he would get any. Shamsul Mia of Hazrabari said dealers tell him the fertiliser is finished and will come when the next allocation arrives, and there is none in the open market either.

Md Abdul Rahim, a dealer at Hazrabari Bazar, said he had drawn and sold his entire allocation of 35 tonnes of urea for the month; demand remains, and the next supply will come in the first week of next month. The district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) says Jamalpur's urea allocation for this month is 7,555 tonnes across 219 dealers, with more than 7,000 tonnes due next month; Aman has been planted on 120,617 hectares in the district this year.

Mohammad Alam Sharif Khan, deputy director of the DAE in Jamalpur, said there is no shortage of urea in the district; farmers are buying and storing extra for fear of a shortage, which is why demand looks high, and the department is trying to make them aware of this.

From a Risingbd report by its Jamalpur correspondent. Source: Risingbd