Brasília – Major farmers will get R$ 136 billion (US$ 63.5 bn) in financing during the coming crop. The 2013-2014 Agriculture and Livestock Plan is being launched this Tuesday (4th), at government seat Palácio do Planalto, by president Dilma Rousseff and the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Antônio Andrade, and will provide 18% more funds than the crop that is currently coming to an end (R$ 115.2 bn, or US$ 53.8 bn).
The amount is divided between R$ 97.6 bn (US$ 45.6 bn) in financing to crop funding and sales, and R$ 38.4 bn (US$ 17.9 bn) for investment programs. The average annual interest rate will be 5.5%, and may be as low as 3.5% in programs for the purchase of machinery, irrigation equipment and storage structures.
Average-sized farmers will get R$ 13.2 bn (US$ 6.1 bn), up 18.4% from R$ 11.15 bn (US$ 5.2 bn) in the current crop. The interest rate for the National Support Program to Average-Sized Farmers (Pronamp) is 4.5% a year. The loan ceiling for crop funding has been raised from R$ 500,000 to R$ 600,000 (US$ 233,000 to 280,000), and the loan ceiling for investment has been raised from R$ 300,000 to R$ 350,000 (US$ 300,000 to 163,000).
Cooperatives will get R$ 5.3 bn (US$ 2.4 bn) by means of programs Cooperative Development for Added Value to Agricultural Production (Prodecoop) and Capitalization of Agricultural Cooperatives (Procap-Agro). The annual interest rate for working capital has been lowered from 9% to 6.5% a year.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
