Government tries to get closer to agriculture after Lula’s speeches and veto the time frame

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is preparing new gestures for the agribusiness sector after having had a first year marked by controversial speeches against businesspeople and vetoed sensitive issues dear to them, such as the time frame for demarcating indigenous lands. Although the 2023 Harvest Plan was one of the largest in history, the relationship with the sector still needs a better relationship.

Minister Carlos Fávaro, of Agriculture, says that the government is attentive to the problems experienced by Brazilian producers, mainly in relation to climate issues that caused crop losses, whether due to rain or excessive drought. And this, he says, will be a point of attention to be worked on this year, although he denies that there is a crisis in the sector.

“We have a difficult moment, a moment in which we have had climate change, bad weather and flat commodity prices, but it is far from a crisis. The sector, on the contrary, had three or four very good years, which even allowed it to form a fat. And now we have a difficult moment, of attention”, said Fávaro in an interview with Newspaper published this Monday (5).

According to the minister, the government is aware that the relationship with producers was not the best last year – “we started the government with a very hostile environment on the part of agriculture” – crediting the post-election situation, but that “those who understood found a very favorable environment”, he analyzes. For him, Lula managed to take agriculture to the world by reestablishing diplomatic relations and opening 87 new markets.

Fávaro also stated that the issue of climate change is on the government’s radar, so much so that he proposed the goal of eliminating illegal deforestation, but that he will also have to review the values ​​set for access by producers. Among them rural insurance, which is in the range of R$1 billion per year.

“During climate change, expansion is necessary, because production is costing more and so are policies, given climate issues,” he stated, proposing a modernization of the rural insurance system, incorporating algorithms and artificial intelligence to offer more accessible and affordable policies. cover a greater number of producers.

The minister also stated that the government is asking the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) for more resources in dollars and the extension of debts, depending on the assessment of the Ministry of Finance. He highlighted the importance of a “partner and preventive” government, anticipating possible economic impacts to ensure effective measures.

Still according to him, with the difficulty of closing a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union – which is getting further and further away as European producers increase protests for help from local governments, Brazil must seek more markets around the world, such as partnerships with Brics, Middle East, Asia and Africa countries.