Some of them also alleged that the authorities do not supply as much fertiliser as they are entitled to receive from the godown.

They made the allegations at the 12th Annual General Meeting of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association (BFA) at the Officers' Club auditorium in the city.

Addressing as the chief guest, Mir Nasir Hossain, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), said, "Fertiliser is not only an economic commodity in the country but also socio-economic goods because there is a link between fertiliser and national development."

He also said the government should remove anomalies in transportation of fertiliser for its proper supply throughout the country.

BFA Chairman Kafiluddin Ahmed urged the government to set up two more fertiliser factories in northern region of the country and renovate all other factories facing various problems in order to resolve fertiliser crisis.

Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) Chairman Maj. Gen. (retd.) Imam-Uz-Zaman said there is no shortage of fertiliser in the country, but the problem is due to mismanagement in transportation and distribution systems.

He also refuted the allegations that the 50kg bags do not contain the same quantity as written on the bags and fertilisers are of poor quality.

Anwarul Islam Babul, a distributor of Jamalpur, Rafiqul Islam of Sirajganj, Aziz Sarker of Satkhira, Zahed Ali of Dinajpur, Lutfar Rahman of Chapainawabganj told this correspondent that they received some bags which contained less than 50kg of fertiliser.

They also said they complained about it to the authorities, but the authorities did not take any action in this regard.

Dealers from different parts of the country attended the meeting presided over by BFA Chairman Kafil Uddin.