Farmers in Nageshwari upazila of Kurigram blocked the Madarganj-Kachakata road with tree trunks on Friday morning after failing to get fertiliser. The blockade began at around 8am at Gabtala Bazar in Ballabherkhas union and halted traffic on the road. The farmers also confined Rafiqul Islam, a sub-assistant agriculture officer of the upazila who was at the scene, inside the dealer's warehouse for about four hours.

The farmers said fertiliser was due to be distributed from 8am on Friday at the dealer's point of Bhai Bhai Machineries in Gabtala Bazar. When they arrived, they were told distribution had finished at dawn. Angered, they took to the road and said the agriculture officer would not be allowed out of the warehouse until they received fertiliser.

Rafiqul Islam said distribution in Ballabherkhas union had begun in the morning. The warehouse held 80 sacks, and one sack was being issued for every five farmers. The stock ran out while many farmers were still waiting outside; it was then that they blocked the road and shut him in.

Nageshwari upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Mohammad Alauddin reached the spot at around noon. He spoke to the farmers and assured them fertiliser would be supplied quickly, after which the blockade was lifted. Rafiqul Islam was brought out of the warehouse under police protection and driven away in the UNO's vehicle.

UNO Mohammad Alauddin said the farmers had been assured of fertiliser and the sub-assistant agriculture officer had been rescued.

At this point in the season, a squeeze on fertiliser supply falls directly on Kurigram's smallholders. A ration of one sack for every five farmers is itself a measure of how far short of demand the fertiliser reaching dealers has fallen, and the farmers' question of how an announced distribution could be over before it was due to start has yet to be answered.

Source: Prothom Alo