Brasília – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced today (17) the 2010/2011 Crop Plan for Family Farming, to make available 16 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 8.9 billion) for the financing of crops, the total is 1 billion reals (US$ 559 million) more than last year. Among the highlights for the plan are reduction of interest rates for financing, from 5.5% to 4.5% a year, and for investment, from 5% to 4% a year, in operations under the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (Pronaf).
Of the 16 billion reals for the Crop Plan, 8.5 billion reals (US$ 4.8 billion) will be turned to investment operations and 7.5 billion reals (US$ 4.1 billion) will be turned to financing. Other changes are the new financing limits for lines of credit like the Pronaf Jovem, which has an individual limit expanded from 7,000 reals (US$ 3,900) to 10,000 reals (US$ 5,600) and Pronaf Agroindústria, to be expanded from 18,000 reals (US$ 10,000) to 20,000 reals (US$ 11,000).
The announcement was made at the opening of the 7th National Family Farming and Land Reform Fair – Contemporary Rural Brazil, at the Acoustic Conch, in Brazilian capital Brasília. The fair brings together 650 family enterprises and has a broad cultural programme. It should end on Sunday (20) and admittance is free.
The event counts on a Biodiversity Square, which brings together 24 enterprises stimulated as economic alternatives to the deforestation of biomes in the Amazon, the Savannah and the Drylands. Over 100 products of Brazilian biodiversity should be shown, including food, handicraft, biojewels and cosmetics. In inauguration of the Square should take place at 6:30 pm, at the Institutional Space of the Ministry of Agrarian Development.
In an address, Lula said that during his term in office, the largest number of environmental reserves was created and added that it is also necessary to discuss a form for the families to generate income with the protection of forests.
"We cannot just create new reservations, it is necessary to start discussing what to do with them so that people may take make use of them. Sometimes we establish a reserve and are caught by surprise with deforestation and logging. The ministry should join forces to discuss ways for the reservation not to be just an area for preservation, but a form of breadwinning,” he said.
The president pointed out the possibility of not removing people from the areas they live in to make them into forestry reserves, but to pay them a salary so that they become guardians of the forests.
*Translated by Mark Ament
