MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil plans to invest 40 billion U$D in agriculture 2008/09

Brazil will be announcing this week the annual investment plan in support for agriculture and livestock which is estimated to increase 12% totaling in the region of 40 billion US dollars, said Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes.

The figure was decided last week following a final meeting with President Lula da Silva and will be applicable to the 2008/09 harvest season. Stephanes underlined that in the forty years he's been linked or working for the Brazilian federal government he had never come across such a "consensus" among all government offices and agencies as to the promotion of investments in agriculture. "In the past we would have a lot of conflicts with different federal offices pulling or lobbying for their interests, not this time", he said. The official announcement will take place next July 2nd when the agriculture and livestock plan for 2008/09 is officially announced. Among the different projects included is one for the recovery of pastures and degraded soils to be addressed with soft loans, no higher than the inflation rate. The annual package extends from actual production to marketing, ample credits for small farmers and an insurance system to reduce the risks of climate change. Brazil is one of the world's leading agriculture powers and represents the equivalent of 25% of the country's GDP which in 2007 was approximately 390 billion US dollars. Brazil is a leading exporter of soybeans, beef, poultry, hogs, coffee, tropical fruits, orange juice, sugar and ethanol from sugar cane. Farm exports in the first five months of the year have reached the record sum of 27 billion US dollars in spite of the constant appreciation of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar which has an impact in domestic costs.