MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian Government announces increased funding for agribusiness

The new funding by the Bolsonaro government is 6.3% higher than the one in the previous harvest assistance program

The Government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Tuesday launched what was called “The Harvest Plan 2021/2022” for which funding worth R$ 251.2 billion (US $ 50.6 billion) for national agribusiness was allocated.

The new financial support is 6.3% higher than the previous allocation, it was reported.

The announcement was made during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia by Bolsonaro and government officials.

According to Brazilian authorities, R$ 177.78 billion will be for funding and marketing and R$ 73.4 billion will be for investments. The latter portion of the budget was raised by 29%.

The Program for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture (ABC Program) is mainline for financing sustainable techniques and had an expansion of 101% compared to the previous Harvest Plan. The line will have R$ 5.05 billion available at an interest rate of 5.5% and 7% per year, a grace period of up to eight years and a maximum payment term of 12 years.

The amount for small rural producers was increased by 19% and totalled R$ 39.34 billion for financing by the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf), with the interest of 3% and 4.5%. Of this amount, R$ 21.74 billion are for funding and marketing and R$ 17.6 billion for investments. For the medium producer, within the scope of the National Program for Support to Medium Rural Producers (Pronamp), R$ 34 billion were made available, an increase of 3% compared to the previous harvest. There are R$ 29.18 billion for funding and marketing and R$ 4.88 billion for investments, with interests of up to 6.5% per year.

Resources for the construction of warehouses on the properties increased 84%, totalling R$4.12 billion. For the financing of warehouses with a capacity of up to 6,000 tons on the properties, the interest rate is 5.5% and for larger capacity, the rate is 7% per year, with a grace period of three years and a maximum term of 12 years.

The Harvest Plan provides resources for the cost of corn, sorghum and the activities of poultry, swine, fish, dairy and beef cattle in confinement: R$ 1.75 million (Pronamp) and R$ 4 million for other producers. Rural insurance was expanded and now reaches more than twice the area and producers previously served. By 2022, the subsidy for the Rural Insurance Premium will be R$ 1 billion. With this amount, it will be possible to contract approximately 158,500 policies, protect 10.7 million hectares and a total insured value of R$55.4 billion.