Agricultural department statistics indicate that authorities have set a target to cultivate Aman rice across seventy thousand and ninety-fives hectares of land within the district this season. Planting has already reached ninety-seven percent completion, and farmers are currently busy weeding, nurturing their paddy fields, and applying essential fertilisers. However, purchasing these vital agricultural inputs has become an uphill financial battle.

Affected farmers report that the price manipulation is most acute with Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) and Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers. While the official government rate for a fifty-kilogram sack of TSP stands at one thousand three hundred and fifty taka, retailers are selling it between one thousand eight hundred and one thousand nine hundred taka. Similarly, DAP fertiliser priced officially at one thousand and fifty taka is being sold for anywhere between one thousand three hundred and one thousand three hundred and fifty taka, with various other fertilisers also carrying inflated price tags depending on the locality.

Cultivators further complain that traders refuse to provide official cash memos or purchase receipts when charging these excessive amounts. Demanding a receipt often results in threats of refusal to sell altogether, leaving farmers with no option but to pay the higher prices to keep their lands productive. Nurul Sardar and Mofazzal, farmers from Daulatpur village in Khetlal upazila, stated that official price lists hang on shop walls, yet higher rates are demanded regardless. Golam Mostofa, another farmer from Panchuil village, noted that repeated losses from previous potato farming combined with rising input costs threaten their livelihood if market monitoring is not strictly enforced.

Local traders and fertiliser association representatives offer differing views. Shahzaman Talukdar, a seed and fertiliser merchant in Khetlal, suggested that authorities must increase oversight since ample stock exists despite the inflated pricing. Meanwhile, district fertiliser association president Md. Raunqul Islam Chowdhury maintained that official Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) dealers are not overcharging, though peripheral issues will be addressed if formal complaints reach administrative channels.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Joypurhat, A. K. M. Sadikul Islam, confirmed that distribution operates through fifty-eight BCIC dealers, one hundred and twelve Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) dealers, and three hundred and twenty-six retail points across the district. Reassuring the public of adequate supplies, including nine thousand six hundred and fifty-one metric tonnes allocated for the current month, he warned that strict legal actions will follow against anyone proven to be overcharging farmers.