Chandigarh, June 9 -- Amid a shortage of urea due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia with the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, farmers on Monday organised protests across Punjab while demanding availability of the fertiliser in adequate quantity for the paddy crop.

The crop is cultivated over 30 lakh hectares in the state, requiring at least 15 lakh tonnes of urea, but, according to a senior agriculture official wishing not to be named, the state government has only 4 lakh tonnes in its stocks. Agriculture officials said they were making efforts as the state government had approached the central government.

An acre of paddy crop requires three bags of urea each of 45 kg but farmers have a tendency to use four bags. A s...