Agribusiness celebrates record credit for farmers

Agribusiness representatives celebrated the announcement by President Michel Temer of the 2017/2018 Agricultural and Livestock Plan. The so-called Harvest Plan represents the largest volume of credit in history to finance the sector in the country: R$ 190.25 billion in rural credit for medium and large producers.

With the opening of the record credit line, the sector can expect to do better business. For farmer Vilson Thomas, who grows grain in Planaltina (DF), the sector will appreciate the help with acquiring inputs. “The Harvest Plan is paramount to the sector, because it offers resources. Having this money in hand to foot costs, you can do good business," he said.

Tiago Mendonça, a grain and tomato farmer in Morrinhos (GO), is betting that the record volume of resources will help the sector make an even greater impact in the economy. “It is not just farmers who benefit, but a whole community, a whole society," he said.

Growth

Agriculture was the main driver of the recent positive numbers in the Brazilian economy: the sector saw a 13.4% increase in GDP. According of the president of the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA), João Martins da Silva Junior, the announcement by President Temer shows the importance of the sector for the resumption of growth.

“We are absolutely sure that this government will do everything necessary to help farmers plant an excellent 2017/2018 harvest so we can have record-breaking numbers again," he points out.

Machinery and equipment

The resources of the Harvest Plan will also help the manufacture of machinery and equipment in the country, as was highlighted by the chairman of the board of directors of the Brazilian Association of the Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq), João Carlos Marchezan.

“It has a major impact on the economy as we return to economic growth. It has an impact on the entire agribusiness chain, the entire machinery chain, and the entire transport chain. For Brazil, this will help us leverage economic growth," he says.

Interest reduction

In addition to the increase in credit volumes, the interest rate on operations was reduced by 1 p.p. per year for the costing credit lines and by 2 p.p. for the priority programmes focused on storage and technological innovation in agriculture (namely the Programme for Incentive to Technological Innovation in Agricultural Production/Inovagro - with rates of 6.5% pa.).

“This gives farmers the certainty that they can afford the costs to buy inputs, including fertilisers, seeds and pesticides, as well as money to make more investments," said Neri Geller, Agricultural Policy Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.