São Paulo – Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched this Tuesday (27) the agribusiness financing plan 2023/2024 (Plano Safra), making available BRL 364.22 billion (about USD 76.19 billion at the current rate) to agriculture and livestock credit for large and medium-sized rural producers in Brazil. Special conditions for environmentally sustainable productions were highlighted.
The available resources are 26.8% greater than in the previous period. “I’m not afraid to tell you every year we will make better financing than the year before,” said Lula at the launch ceremony in Brasília. Demonstrating his efforts to strengthen the sector, despite the political dissidence existing on behalf of agribusiness concerning his government, he said: “This country will only succeed if everyone wins.”
The president defended the sustainability of Brazilian agriculture and livestock and the recovery of degraded land so the country could produce more. “We don’t need to deforest anything to raise more cattle or plant more soybean; we have the possibility of recovering millions of hectares of degraded land this country has,” he said.
Of the total funds announced, BRL 272.12 billion (about USD 56.93 billion) will be allocated to funding and trading. Another BRL 92.1 billion (about USD 19.27 billion) will be for investments. Interest rates will range from 7% to 12.5% a year.
The main highlight of the plan is the incentive for environmentally sustainable production systems. Lower interest rates will be offered to those with an active environmental registration and that employ production practices considered more sustainable, such as organic or agroecological, bioinputs, waste treatment in pig farming, rock dust and limestone, renewable energy in poultry farming, tracked cattle herd and sustainability certifications.
Several government programs will benefit those who tend to the environment, such as the Financing Program for Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems (RenovAgro), which supports low-carbon agriculture with almost BRL 7 billion (about USD 1.46 billion) in credit. The program will expand its scope, encompassing the recovery of degraded pastures for agricultural production. The interest rate for this production will be the lowest, 7%.
Lula also stated he would pay attention to the budget issue of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), which, according to him, has scarce resources for investment. “I want to visit Embrapa to see if we can make it the pride of Brazilian agribusiness again.” This Wednesday (28), the president will announce the financing plan for Family Agriculture, with around BRL 77 billion (about USD 16.01 billion) in credit.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
