High costs and lack of inputs are challenges for the next elected in agribusiness

Reduce production costs, strengthen trade relations and improve Brazil’s environmental image in the foreign market. These are some of the challenges that the next government will need to face to boost agribusiness.

A subject that gained some relevance in the electoral campaign, agro is one of the themes present in the government plans of the main candidates for the Presidency of the Republic.

Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), ex-minister Ciro Gomes (PDT) and senator Simone Tebet (MDB) defend changes for the sector in their government plans filed in the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) if elected.

For Leandro Gilio, senior researcher and professor at Insper Agro Global, the sector has gained relevance in the scenario thanks to the gain in competitiveness in the foreign market and the ability to produce income.

“Of course, the discussion is often in the field of ideology, in the field of polarization. Therefore, agriculture is often seen as a delay, which harms the sector’s own strategy for the future”.

In addition to trying to change this view, the next government will have to devise strategies to deal with the impacts suffered by the sector so far — such as rising costs, lack of inputs and breakdown in production chains — and with a possible slowdown in large global economies. .

“We also have internal challenges, in relation to the government’s public accounts and every social issue in the country”.

Another challenge will be to improve the commercial relationship and the negative image of Brazil abroad, tarnished by the advance in deforestation. “The government will have to work hard on the environmental issue so that our products have a good image abroad and greater acceptance so that we do not suffer barriers and blockages”.

The answer to fighting hunger in the country is not an increase in agribusiness production, according to the researcher, but income transfer and job creation policies. “The problem is not in production, but in the access of the population [aos alimentos]. These demands are more urgent than trying to coordinate the market in some way.”

See the proposals of the main candidates:

Lula (PT)

Former President Lula’s government plan provides for the strengthening of agricultural production through “financing, government purchases, public investment” and also to expand and add value to production, “with an emphasis on innovations oriented towards the ecological, energy and digital”.

The government plan also proposes:

• to add value to agricultural production, with the establishment of a first-rate agro-industry, with high global competitiveness;
• and strengthen the national production of agricultural inputs, machinery and implements, fostering the development of the agro-industrial complex.

food safety

Still on the government platform, one of the measures presented is aimed at food sovereignty and the population’s access to healthy food, which would be possible:

• through a new model of occupation and use of urban and rural land;
• with agrarian and agroecological reform;
• and with building sustainable food systems, including the production and consumption of healthy foods.

The measures also provide support for small and medium-sized agricultural properties, especially family farming, and also “stimulate the expansion of direct relations between small producers and consumers in the surroundings of cities”.

strengthen production

According to former President Lula’s government plan, in order to strengthen agricultural production in the country, it is necessary to rethink the pattern of production and consumption and offer healthy food to the population.

According to the proposal, to overcome the food crisis and expand the production of adequate and healthy food, it is necessary:

• measures that reduce production costs and the marketing price of fresh, good quality food;
• to promote organic and agroecological production;
• and to encourage food systems with parameters of sustainability, respect for territories and democratization of land ownership and use.

Science and technology

The former president’s government plan provides for the strengthening of Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) so that it can identify farmers’ potential and ensure further technological advances in the field “essential for the competitiveness and sustainability of both small and large producers” .

Sustainability and fighting food inflation

The program advocates advancing towards agriculture and livestock that are committed to environmental and social sustainability so that the Brazilian market does not lose ground on the international scene.

To combat the rise in food prices, the government plan proposes to establish a national supply policy, which includes:

• the resumption of regulatory stocks;
• and the expansion of financing and support policies for food production for small farmers and organic agriculture.

Jair Bolsonaro (PL)

Candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro’s government plan defends the promotion of competitiveness and the transformation of agribusiness “through the development and incorporation of new biological, digital and innovation-bearing technologies”.

The plan also provides for the creation of measures to promote and strengthen farming and mining “important in Brazilian economic performance”.

In case of reelection, the government intends to “stimulate modern processing companies”, which would include cooperatives, small and large producers.

Sustainability

The government plan also provides for measures to improve sustainability in the countryside from:

Increase in productivity and production

One of the measures of the government plan is to strengthen and promote the implementation of agricultural practices that increase productivity and production in the field.

• maintain ecosystems and the ability to adapt to climate change;
• progressively improve opportunities for generating employment and income for rural producers;
• pay attention to Agricultural Defense programs;
• encourage exports;
• expand the coverage and quality of rail transport;
• and increase the national production of fertilizers.

Science and technology

In Bolsonaro’s government platform, encouraging research and investment in technology are identified as measures for the development of industry, health and agribusiness. Among the proposals are to expand and consolidate the implementation of 5G technology and formulate strategies that use public money in cutting-edge research.

Field safety

Another measure related to agriculture is to increase security in the countryside and seek specific solutions for the protection of areas outside urban centers “protecting not only the rural family, but the equipment and inputs in general, whose very high added value has led a portion of criminals to turn to this audience”.

Among other actions, the government program proposes:

• create policies to guarantee security and freedom for both the small family farmer and the large farmer;
• and to consolidate and expand employee regularization actions, guaranteeing the right to property, “reducing conflicts in the countryside and invasions”.

Ciro Gomes (PDT)

In his government platform, former minister Ciro Gomes considers agribusiness one of the four main areas to be stimulated for the resumption of the productive sector. The other three are oil, gas and derivatives and health and defense.

The candidate proposes to boost agribusiness, as well as other areas, through a set of public policies that include:

• incentives for research and innovation;
• specific financing;
• public purchases;
• export incentive.

Preservation of the environment

In his environmental agenda, Ciro Gomes argues that Brazil’s growth is linked to a clear environmental agenda, “capable of proving that a standing forest is worth much more than a deforested field.”

To this end, it proposes a regional development strategy, associated with greater land security, which contributes to the reduction of deforestation.

“This is a strategy that will show how it is possible to reconcile and integrate farming, livestock and the forest”.

Simone Tebet (MDB)

Senator Simone Tebet chooses the green economy and sustainable development as one of her main government plans. For agricultural producers, Simone’s government plan proposes to implement:

• a multi-annual harvest plan, with agricultural financing and credit guidelines.
• and rural insurance and medium and long-term storage;

If elected, Simone Tebet also promises to support family farming by offering credit, agricultural extension and technical cooperation and improving connectivity and electrification conditions in the countryside.

Science and technology

As strategies to increase productivity and increase the competitiveness of the sector, the government plan proposes:

• strengthen and modernize Embrapa and support rural extension agencies;
• boost national production of agricultural inputs and fertilizers, seeking to increase national productivity and reduce dependence on imports;
• support agro-industrial hubs through the expansion of infrastructure and logistics, especially railways;
• and strengthen and encourage cooperativism.

fishing and preservation

Simone Tebet also proposes to create a new legal framework for fisheries, in an “integrated fisheries management”, which will include “restrictions and new technologies for trawling, within a marine spatial planning”

She advocates boosting the expansion of low-carbon agriculture and crop-livestock-forestry integration, especially to take advantage of devastated areas that can be cultivated without deforestation.

Another proposed measure is to speed up the adoption, computerization, consolidation and regularity analysis of the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) — an instrument created to make it possible for rural landowners to comply with the rules provided for in the Forest Code.