Brazil headed for global soybean lead, says Rousseff

President Dilma Rousseff has said Monday (Feb. 17) that Brazil expects an unprecedentedly large grain crop in 2013/2014 in excess of 193 million tons. “This record is set to make Brazil the leading global soybean producer, which only attests Brazil's robust agriculture – a key driver of the country's growth.”

During the weekly Café com a Presidenta (“Breakfast with the President”) radio broadcast, Rousseff explained that the record-breaking performance has resulted from the farmers' joint efforts, combined with innovations in agriculture and government support. “We have made R$136 billion [US$56.85 billion] available to medium and large farmers for the 2013/2014 harvest season. And an additional R$21 billion [US$8.78 billion] is going to family farming,” she told the presenter.

The president reported more than US$38 billion in loans have been taken by farmers, a 50% increase over the same period in 2012.

Another contributing factor was the Agricultural Machinery Modernization Program, which has provided US$3.63 billion in credit for machinery and equipment purchases by the mid-harvest season. In 2013, 83,000 agricultural machines were bought, a growth of over 18% compared to 2012, the president reported.

About the National Midrange Farmer Support Program, Rousseff announced that the government has “made over R$13 billion [US$5.43 billion] available in low-interest funding (rates reduced from 5% to 4.5% a year), and increased funding limits.” Nearly US$3.90 billion in credit has been used by medium farmers in the current harvest season. “One third of this credit was used to purchase machinery and improve facilities,” she explained.

The president went on to cite the Low Carbon Agriculture Programme (ABC) designed to promote sustainable farming practices, which has made US$1.888 billion available in the current season. “With the ABC program, credit is facilitated to farmers with interest at 5% per annum and amortization periods between five and eight years,” she said. The program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect natural resources, and increase productivity.

The government is also offering a credit line of US$10.45 billion to fund the construction of private crop warehouses within the next five years and US$209 million for the construction and modernization of public warehouses.

In order to ensure crop distribution, the president announced investments in roads, railways, waterways, and ports. The current priority, she reported, is a new 880 kilometer-long Central-West Rail Link (FICO) that will connect to the North-South Railway. “The FICO railway is going to be a logistics milestone in our country,” she promised.

Translated by Mayra Borges