Angry farmers on Wednesday blocked Bhagalpur-Naugachia road at Jahanabhi Chowk near Vikramshila bridge across river Ganga for more than four hours seeking minimum support price for maize from the government.

The farmers dumped maize on the road and also on the bridge as a mark of protest. However, the blockade was removed after assurances from Naugachia sub-divisional officer Sushil Kumar.

Traffic came to a grinding halt because of the blockade of the bridge, which connects Bhagalpur and Jharkhand districts in the south to the north-east Bihar and Bengal.

Long queues of vehicles blocked both the ends — Bhagalpur and Naugachia sides — of the bridge. The road was blocked from 9am to 1.30pm. More than 300 farmers participated in the agitation.

Niraj Sahu, a tiller, said: “Hundreds of farmers, who produce maize in large quantity in areas like Naugachia, Sultanganj and Kahalgaon, were starving after the harvest of the crop. They have to sell their produce at a very low rate because of no minimum support price set by the government.”

According to agriculture department sources, 14,000 hectares was set for Ravi maize cultivation, while another 13,000 hectares for Garma maize cultivation in 2011-12 in the district.

“At present, the farmers sell maize at Rs 850- Rs 900 per quintal, and wheat at Rs 750-800. For production of one quintal maize, one has to invest more than Rs 950-Rs 1,000. When the local maize reaches the market it is sold for Rs 1,100-Rs 1,300 per quintal,” Sahu said.

“The farmers here are not getting the proper price because of the government’s apathy,” he added.