LAYYAH, Jan 4: Police have registered criminal cases against more than 600 farmers for protesting against the unavailability of urea fertiliser here in the district.

Police registered cases under the 16 Maintenance of the Public Order (MPO) and sections 148, 149 and 341 of the Criminal Procedure Code against the farmers in five police stations -- Layyah city, Chowk Azam, Kot Sultan, Fatehpur and Karor Lal Essan.

Layyah is the third largest wheat growing district in the country with 520,000 acres.

Long queues of urea seekers, braving severe cold, are seen at official outlets -- one each in Layyah city, Karor Lal Essan, Fatehpur and Chowk Azam -- from dawn to dusk where one farmer can only get two urea bags.

Urea seekers held demonstrations across the district in the last week. They held sits-in and blocked roads in protest against the shortage of the commodity. Instead of providing the farmers with fertilizer, the authorities registered criminal cases against more 600 farmers.

Even though Punjab Agriculture Minister Ahmed Ali Aulakh announced last week during his visit to Layyah that four more sale points would be made here but his announcement have yet to be realised.

Dawn learnt that despite of efforts by a committee to assure the urea supply at official rates of Rs660 per bag, fertilizer dealers were selling urea for Rs850 to 900 per bag.

Chaudhry Samiullah, District Farmers Association president, said that all lofty farmers-friendly claims by the Punjab government had proved yet another pipe dream. He demanded that Governor Salmaan Taseer interfere in the situation and order the government to withdraw cases.

Up to Rs12,000 are required to prepare and sow one acre for wheat in terms of seeds, ploughing and irrigation and the farmers in Layyah have spent Rs6 billion on the wheat crop.

Their huge investment may go waste if the primary ingredient urea is not used at the time of first or second irrigation of wheat.