President Jair Bolsonaro said today (28) that the government’s expectation is that the 2021/2022 harvest will surpass the 300 million ton mark, which will confirm to the country “the unavoidable vocation” of being the world’s breadbasket. According to the president, this position is due to a modern and sophisticated financing system headed by Banco do Brasil.

The statement was made during the announcement of BB, which will make available R$ 135 billion in credits for the 2021/2022 harvest. The amount is 17% higher than the volume invested in the previous harvest.

“Brazilian agriculture did not stop during the pandemic. It produced even more, thanks to the will and courage of our countryman. The countryside, by not stopping, has increasingly ensured not only our food security, but food for more than 1 billion people around the world”, said the president.

Corroborating the expectations of the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Tereza Cristina, Bolsonaro said that his government is running after the challenge of increasing the grain harvest to 300 million tons, a challenge that is even more surprising considering the fact that it is of a record to be broken in the midst of a pandemic scenario.

“The pandemic demonstrated Brazil’s vocation to the world, to be the breadbasket to feed the world’s population. This vocation is unavoidable, and it is undeniable that the support of this was Banco do Brasil”, he said. “This was possible with modernization and sophistication and for financing [the sector],” he added.

The R$ 135 billion in financing to be made available by the bank will have interest rates ranging from 3% to 4.5% per year for small rural producers, under the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf). For medium rural producers linked to the National Program for Support to Medium Rural Producers (Pronamp), the interest rates charged with funding will be 5.5% per year, and for large producers, the rate will be up to 7.5% per year.

Source: Agência Brasil