Minister of Agriculture talks about ‘pacifying the agro’ and opening doors to sustainable production

Senator Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT) took office this Monday (2) as Minister of Agriculture and Livestock in the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), with the mission of “pacifying agribusiness”, fighting hunger and ” open the doors” to the growth of sustainable production.

“Imagine how many Brazilians are not having a good afternoon. How many Brazilians could not have lunch today. And this is the great challenge we have to face in this government. It is the first challenge. For agriculture, food production plays a fundamental role”, said.

“Many have said: ‘What will the conflict between Minister Carlos Fávaro and Minister Marina Silva be like? [do Meio Ambiente]? With Paulo Teixeira, Minister of Agrarian Development?’ And I can tell you in advance: everyone will be surprised, because we are all on the same side. We want and will have the most sustainable agricultural production in the world.”

Fávaro’s inauguration ceremony was accompanied by the minister of the STF (Federal Supreme Court) Gilmar Mendes, by the new Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG), and by senators Jayme Campos (União-MT) and Wellington Fagundes ( PL-MT) —from the same party as former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Fávaro takes over the ministry that was occupied by his friend and party colleague Marcos Montes (PSD-MG), who was former minister Tereza Cristina’s (PP-MS) number two. Despite the proximity, Marcos Montes did not participate in the ceremony this Monday, as well as all of Bolsonaro’s ministers so far.

The former minister was represented by the former executive secretary of the portfolio, Márcio Eli Almeida. In a symbolic gesture of transferring the position, Eli put the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock pin on Fávaro’s suit. He asked for the sector to unite and stated that Fávaro “is the right person, in the right place”.

“Each time has its challenge and this is not the place to talk about the challenges of the administration that ended. success of Brazilian agriculture”, said Eli Almeida.

“The Brazilian agro has huge challenges. We have to look forward. The agro has to be united around Minister Carlos Fávaro, of his management. From everything we heard, he is the right person, in the right place, at the right time, to lead the destinies of Brazilian agriculture.”

In an interview with Sheet after the election results, Marcos Montes stated that the ministry under Lula’s government had “everything to work out” if it received the same attention given by Bolsonaro, and that he applauded the names that were placed — Fávaro and Geller, among others.

Dilma Rousseff’s (PT) former Minister of Agriculture Neri Geller (PP-MT), another Lula ally in the agricultural sector during the elections, may take over the Agricultural Policy Secretariat or Conab (National Supply Company), which will be linked to the Ministry of Agrarian Development.

“Certainly, Your Excellency will go down in history for taking over at a time of great difficulty, where, above all else, you need to have the capacity for dialogue and understanding to call the sector inside and say ‘Look, we’ve done it in the past'” , said Geller this Monday.

The most quoted for the Ministry’s Executive Secretariat —the second highest position in the portfolio— is lawyer Irajá Lacerda (PSD-MT). Already the former president of Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) Silvio Crestana may return to command the institution.

With the recreation of the ministries of Agrarian Development and Fisheries, the senator takes over the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock with a much smaller structure than the previous one.

Fávaro allied himself with Lula at the beginning of the campaign and was one of the PT’s main interlocutors in the sector. Even having been presented as a share of PSD, by Gilberto Kassab, for the acronym to join the base of the future government, Lula had already chosen the senator personally.

On the day he was announced by the president to lead the ministry, Fávaro told the Sheet that the balance of the last four years for the sector had been negative, despite the majority support of ruralists for Bolsonaro’s re-election.

With a mandate until 2027, Fávaro had to convince his two alternates in the Senate to join Lula’s base to take over the ministry. Margareth Busetti (PSD-MT) and José Esteves de Lacerda Filho (PSD-MT) switched from the PP to the PSD and will take turns in office.

“The election is over and she has the right to have chosen her candidate, but now I’ve taken on a mission to help Brazilian agriculture. It’s not politically fair for my alternate to go there and vote against it. She may have her ideologies, but you have to vote with the government. And you will vote with the government”, said the minister in the interview published last week.

At the inauguration ceremony this Monday, there were also the president of the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso, state deputy Eduardo Botelho (DEM-MT), the mayor of Cuiabá, Emanuel Pinheiro (MDB-MT), and the future attorney general of Justice of Mato Grosso, Deosdete Cruz Junior.