Shuttle: Transition suggests commitment to sustainability for Agriculture

A clear commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability.

This is one of the suggestions in the report by the transition group for the new Minister of Agriculture.

Encourage the renewable energy program, including a resumption of biodiesel targets, interrupted by the current government, as well as the ABC program, created to mitigate greenhouse gases.

Faced with so many challenges for production from now on, a proposal was made to create an “intelligence niche”, made up of representatives from different areas of government.

The information would come from representatives of Conab, Embrapa, IBGE, Incra and other bodies and would help in the formulation of agricultural policies.

Another suggestion is the creation of an agricultural risk management agency, similar to what exists in the United States and in several other important world producers.

This agency would help shape credit, insurance, and pricing policies. Brazilian agricultural policy needs to be made with the country within a global context.

External information also guides stimulus policies and can generate definitions and support for the sector.

The group is aware that the suggestions are important, but who will sit in the chair of the Ministry of Agriculture will make the decisions.

It is necessary to adopt an agricultural policy with a robust Crop Plan and an increase in the participation of rural insurance in the productive system, but the budget is short.

The eight participants in the transition group heard from associations, employees and directors of private and governmental entities.

The technical part of the ministry, which was in the hands of former minister Tereza Cristina, developed well, since she is in the field.

What got out of her reach, like Incra, is broken and abandoned, in the conclusion of the group.

Discussions about the division of the Ministry of Agriculture were intense, but in the end there was a consensus. The suggestion is for the creation of the MDA (Ministry of Agrarian Development).

Producers are heterogeneous, and statistics indicate that when family farming programs are in the Ministry of Agriculture, family farming is more marginalized.

Regarding the Ministry of Fisheries, the assessment is that either a very representative structure within the Ministry of Agriculture is adopted or a new one is created. The suggestion is for the second option.

The recreation of these ministries, however, will be very difficult because there was no specific training of employees for these areas in the previous periods of the ministries. Much of the staff is spread across several other programs.

The report shows that there was a reduction in resources for all sectors of the ministry. It is necessary to invest in sanitary and animal defense, in internal administration, in the international area and mainly in research. There is no replacement of staff.

Embrapa, mentioned by the president-elect several times during the electoral campaign, must receive more resources. The company is short of money for both employees and research.

Some internal projects, such as Transforma Embrapa, however, should be better discussed, in the evaluation of the representatives of the transition group.

It was also pointed out the need for an internal supply policy with stocks of basic products, a task for Conab.

Within the agricultural policy, it is necessary to resume lines of credit, seek alternatives for fertilizers, encourage bioinputs and review the agrochemicals program, which has become very liberal.

In the external area, evolve with the agricultural attaches program and eliminate the problems that deforestation brings to the sector. Planted forests must remain with the Ministry of Agriculture.