Brasilia. With the new “Plano Safra 2023/2024” (harvest plan), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced the largest investment project for sustainable agricultural development projects in the history of the country.
The harvest plan provides 364 billion reais (about 69 billion euros) in investments. Compared to the previous year, the budget has increased by 27 percent. With the financial incentive for medium-sized and large farms, ecologically sustainable production systems are to be strengthened.
The head of state stressed that the plan is not based on deforestation but on restoring 30 million hectares of degraded land to contribute to the fight against climate change. He called on the agricultural sector to also respect nature and say goodbye to ideologies in favor of the goals of sustainable economic development.
“Those who think that the government will do more or less under the Plano Safra because it has a problem with the agribusiness are wrong. A responsible government doesn’t do something like that” and is “not petty enough to offend people and fuel their hatred. This country will only work if everyone wins,” he said. The government puts collective interests ahead of personal ones, Lula said.
Environment Minister Marina Silva also advocated a sustainable development model that combines economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. “The government has worked together to find workable mechanisms so that this important policy in support of Brazil’s agricultural sector includes adequate tools to encourage rural producers to join the transition to a low-carbon economy,” she said.
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad also referred to Brazil’s participation in the world market: “It will be very important that our production is adapted to the new international requirements so that we do not lose the market abroad for products that are welcome there”.
The concrete measures of the harvest plan include lower interest rates for medium-sized businesses that want to purchase agricultural machinery and equipment. Producers using farming practices deemed sustainable and registered by the Rural Environmental Register (CAR) can receive a reduction of up to a percentage point in the interest rate, under certain conditions.
Alexandre Schenkel, President of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), attended the ceremony as a representative of agricultural producers and sees the Plano Safra as positive. “Loans are one of the most important prerequisites for the profitability of our activities and enable us to bring technological innovations, sustainability and quality into production.” The financial instruments must be strengthened, said Schenkel.
Critical voices in the agricultural sector complain that interest rates have remained the same as in the previous year and have even been raised slightly for large producers.
Launched during Lula’s first mandate, the Plano Safra has offered annual access to differentiated credit lines with lower interest rates and longer maturities since 2003, benefiting 30 percent of the agricultural sector.
The harvest schedule for small farms is done separately. Small producers are to receive 75 billion reais (approx. 14 billion euros) in investments for 2023 and 2024.