President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched, on Monday (30), the Family Farming Plan 2025/2026, with R $ 89 billion for rural credit within the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (Pronaf) and other policies such as public purchases, agricultural insurance, technical assistance and minimum price guarantee. The value is a record for the sector. In 2024, R $ 76 billion in resources were allocated.
Of the total for the crop, R $ 78.2 billion are for Pronaf, which this year completes 30 years of recognition of family farming for the country’s development. The 3% interest rate is maintained to finance food production, such as rice, beans, cassava, fruits, vegetables, eggs and milk – falling to 2% when cultivation is organic or agroecological.
In a ceremony at Planalto Palace, Lula celebrated the expansion of the program over the years and the maintenance of low interest rates.
“I saw an amount of interest of 3%of 2%, I think the highest rate is 5% [em outras linhas de crédito]. It is important to note that a 5% interest rate in an inflation of 5% is zero interest rate. It is important to remember that a interest rate at 3% in a country with 5% inflation means less two, is less than zero interest, ”he said.
“Our banks are doing what historically did not do in this country. That’s why the program has gained national density,” he celebrated.
The president also highlighted the importance of rows in encouragement of the mechanization of the field, both for increasing crop productivity and for the quality of life of small producers. For Lula, these incentives also encourage the machine and equipment production industry.
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“When we created the Mais Alimentos program in 2008, we got extraordinary success, because it was the most food program that made it survive the auto industry at that moment, which was living a crisis, because we managed to sell 80,000 tractors up to 80 horses. And the same thing is happening now,” he said.
“That is, if we do not create the conditions, if we do not provoke the entrepreneur so that he can produce machines according to the size of the land … because a citizen who has 10 hectares, he can not buy a machine that is 50 meters wide. No, he needs a machine the size of his land,” he said.
Credit lines
In this plan for family farmers, credit lines were created to support agroecology, sustainable irrigation, adaptation to climate change, productive backyards, connectivity and accessibility in the field. For example, special conditions for microcredit focused on rural women will be given, focusing on productive backyards, with a limit of up to R $ 20,000 in resources, interest rates of 0.5% per year and compliance bonuses of 25% to 40%. According to the government, the program is one of the demands of the 2023 daisy march.
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Productive backyards, also known as agroecological or home backyards, are integrated systems that combine various agricultural practices such as vegetables, orchards, small animals and the use of medicinal plants. These are spaces around the house, driven by women, who unite productive activity with the routine of the house and family care.
Another highlight is the incentives for mechanization, in the context of the Mais Alimentos program. The limit for the purchase of lower machines and equipment was extended from R $ 50 thousand to R $ 100 thousand with the maintenance of the interest rate of 2.5%. For larger machines, up to R $ 250,000, the interest rate is 5%, with Federal Government subsidy to encourage more technology in the field, “which impacts more productivity, quality of life and food”.
Also, of the total resources, in the scope of Agricultural Insurance, R $ 1.1 billion were allocated to the Safra Guarantee and R $ 5.7 billion for Proagro Mais. The government also allocated R $ 3.7 billion for public purchases of family farming products, R $ 240 million for technical assistance and R $ 42.2 million to guarantee the minimum price for three sociobiodiversity products: babassu, pirarucu and rubber.
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Also on Monday, the government launched the embryo transfer program, an unprecedented initiative for stimuli for dairy chain innovation and genetic quality of the herd.
Complementing resources for the rural sector, this Tuesday (1st/7), Lula will announce the Plan Safra 2025/2026 for agribusiness, with rural credit and programs intended for medium and large producers of the country.
Pesticide reduction
During the event, Lula also signed the decree of the National Agrotoxic Reduction Program (Pronara) which is now one of the main strategies of the Brazilian state for the agroecological transition. The goal is to foster “safer, resilient and healthier” agricultural practices, with integrated scientific research actions, food and environmental pesticide monitoring, strengthening technical assistance and expanding the use of bioinsums.
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Pronara is structured as an instrument of induction of public policies aimed at the progressive reduction of dependence on the agricultural, notably pesticide, and the promotion of sustainable production systems, with an emphasis on family farming, agroecology and organic production.
The government presented data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that point out that Brazil occupied, in 2021, the world’s first worldwide position, accounting for about 22% of the total used globally.
“This reality reinforces the urgency of the implementation of structural public policies aimed at the transition to agroecological models of food production. Pronara’s institutionalization inserts the debate on the excessive use of pesticides in the scope of national sustainable rural policies and food and nutritional security,” said the president.
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Also according to the government, the program is the result of a participatory and interinstitutional process, conducted by spaces of democratic governance, such as the National Commission of Agroecology and Organic Production and the Interministerial Chamber of Agroecology and Organic Production, with the active contribution of federal public agencies and representatives of organized civil society.
The program will feature the Interministerial Coordination of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, in partnership with the Ministries of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA), Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), Health, Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and Development and Social Assistance, Family and Hunger Fighting (MDS).
