European Union does not know what the Amazon is, says former minister Tereza Cristina

Back in the Chamber and in her mandate as a federal deputy (MS-PP), won in 2018, the former minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina recommends that the producer prepares to use a smaller volume of fertilizers because the supply may be below the normal.

“In my view, we run the risk of having to use the product more efficiently in the next summer crop,” he said. As the soil is nourished, using less fertilizer this year wouldn’t be a problem, she explains.

If the offer remains low, however, the scenario changes, and for the worse. “My biggest concern was not with the summer crop, but with the off-season that starts in December. If there is an interruption in the shipment of fertilizers, then yes, there will be problems for producers who will plant winter crops from December onwards, as corn ones.”

For sure, until now, the summer crop will be one of the most expensive in history, in which the producer will have to do a lot of accounting to buy fertilizers, pesticides and seeds selectively.

In Congress, Tereza will be faced with an extensive voting agenda for projects that are of interest to agribusiness, directly or indirectly. Among them are the new landmark of land regularization, called PL da Grilagem, which passed the Chamber and is in the Senate, and the project that deals with mining in indigenous land, still with the deputies, which is being called X-Tudo by unleash not just mining, but a host of other activities on reserves.

According to her, these issues need to be debated and demystified. “What we can continue to do is ignore these issues and sweep the discussion under the rug,” she says.

When ministering, Ms. mentioned that there would be stocks of fertilizers until October, but a report in Folha showed that the producer already has difficulty placing orders and that, when he thinks, the price is high. Can you run out of fertilizer?

In my view, we run the risk of having to use the product more efficiently in the next summer crop. When I was still in the ministry, we launched Embrapa’s FertiBrasil program, which is going out into the field with 20,000 technicians to diagnose the soil and see what’s in excess.

I won’t go into technical, agronomic details, but the plant doesn’t use everything that is put in a year. Sometimes it builds up in the ground. So it is possible to use less in these cases.

It is not possible to measure all properties, but we will have a sample and produce an application model.

Would it make a more qualitative use of the fertilizer?

The plant doesn’t absorb everything you put in. As Brazilian agriculture uses a lot of technology, always applying the correct amount of inputs, Embrapa data show that there can be large savings in the use of fertilizers. There may be a gain there too. If you need to use a smaller volume, the production cost also drops.

So, will there be a drop in product supply?

It might have. But it’s all relative. So far, we’ve had the same problems with Belarus. They had a sanction even before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. With the conflict, they were left without a port to handle the logistics of removing the fertilizers.

Russia continues to maintain, of course with payment problems. There are alternative ports. At least it shipped until last week. The ministry monitors weekly. So I don’t see any big problems.

Canada has shown its willingness to increase production. I don’t know if this increase will reach the next summer crop, but it may arrive in the middle of it.

But my biggest concern was not with the summer harvest, but with the off-season that starts in December. If there is an interruption in the shipment of fertilizers, then yes, there will be problems for producers who will plant winter crops from December onwards, such as corn.

And of course we have a market that works by holding and releasing products. The producer needs to be calm in these more delicate moments. Those who haven’t bought it yet need to stay tuned, to know who will deliver to him. I have talked to many producers. Some are worried. Others know that this market is settling down.

But new alternatives have also appeared.

The biofertilizers?

Yes. This market already existed, and now it is boiling. A relevant opportunity arises for them to place their products at this time. As nothing in agriculture is simple, the producer needs to see what pays off. In this summer crop, the producer will need to be very aware and do the math, be attentive. Will you miss? Sincerely, I do not know. It might even be missing.

A producer organization in Mato Grosso do Sul, his state, said that the next summer crop could be the most expensive in history. Can this really happen?

It is true. It would be necessary to look at the historical series of prices and the dollar exchange rate to say that it will be the most expensive, but it is certainly a crop that will be expensive. Everything has gone up in price. Fertilizers, pesticides, seeds. The producer needs to be very careful. He will buy the input on the rise, but commodity prices have started to fall and the dollar to fall.

In the scenario, we have the trend of a good American crop. If the weather helps, here in Brazil we can have a better corn crop than before. Last year, the losses were huge. The producer will need to do a lot of math and plant in the right place. Perhaps it is not time to expand the planted area, which takes longer to achieve high productivity.

At the ministry, Ms. she advocated that sanctions against Russia not be applied to fertilizers. Why?

It’s a discussion about the price of food. The United States, the most active in sanctions, made a concession. The measure became softer. But the discussion continues and is global. We will need to increase purchases from Arab countries, which are strong in nitrogen fertilizers, based on gas. We need to increase urea purchases from Iran

But we need to walk in parallel in Brazil and implement the national fertilizer plan, take the steps that allow us to return to producing fertilizers locally. We need to reopen the potassium deposits. Many are emberned in Minas Gerais. But we also have reserves in the Amazon.

But researchers have shown that a very small portion of potassium is in the Amazon, and that there is no way to defend, for example, the mining project on indigenous land because of potassium.

Is not true. First, the Autazes deposit, in Amazonas, is not on indigenous land. It’s on the edge of a reserve, but it’s not on it. I saw the project, in detail, because it is from a Canadian company with investors from Brazil. As they showed, it is a huge basin, the size of Canada, which is the largest exporter of potash in the world. It is an exporter that has been mining this potash for 60 years.

From the studies we have seen, it is not healthy for Brazil to be self-sufficient in fertilizers, but we cannot be 90% dependent on imports. An agro power like Brazil needs to have a share of national production, so as not to harm our food security.

Furthermore, there is the question of the international market. Planting is alternated between Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere. When we have already used it to plant here, we will export it to plant there. The market works like that.

Minister, returning to mining on indigenous land. Why is this mining project on indigenous land important for agribusiness if Ms. have you just said that the largest reserve of potassium in the Amazon region is not in an indigenous reserve?

This location is not, but there is a lot under the Brazilian subsoil, in non-indigenous land and also in indigenous land. The subsoil belongs to the Union, and we need to guarantee the existence of laws that allow exploration if there is a project of national interest.

We need to demystify this issue, discuss it with the indigenous people and the entire population, and make it clear where the Brazilian State comes in and what projects are of interest to the country. If the project leads to any impact, the same law will determine that mitigation is carried out.

Returning to Autazes. All exploration will be done underground, without affecting the surface, where the company has only one football field.

When Mrs. said goodbye to the Ministry of Agriculture, she said that the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro found a country devastated. Mrs. I wasn’t talking about agribusiness, because it was never devastated, so what was I talking about?

They find several problems of public management, the scrapped machine and a lot of corruption. That counter business is over. Incra’s budget, for example, was huge, and spending was not prioritized. There was an immense stock of land and no criteria for distribution. We fixed several areas, without prioritizing this or that group, as was the case before.

Mrs. mentioned that there was corruption before, as if there isn’t now. But how to answer the question of the influence of pastors in the Ministry of Education, for example, which is a type of corruption?

I’m not following the case personally, but for this type of thing there are control bodies, the instrument of complaint, and everything needs to be investigated, whoever it is. To see this we have CGU [Controladoria-Geral da União] TCU [Tribunal de Contas da União] and Federal Police.

As a deputy, Ms. will be able to evaluate other projects that refer to land tenure in the Amazon region, which are even questioned by the European Union, which is concerned about deforestation. What’s your position?

The European Union does not know what the Amazon is, nor what the Legal Amazon is. That’s an issue.

The other is that we have a habit of putting everyone in the same bag, but this is unfair to some groups. There are people who were taken to that region by the government over 30 years ago. These people left several states, feeding the dream of owning a land. They’ve been there all this time and they still don’t have the property right.

Still, they follow a super-rigid forestry code. They can only use 20% of the land. I’m not even going to argue if that’s enough. But they are there following the rules. They need to have land rights.

Are there people who cheated? Yes it does. And land regularization identifies these people and allows the application of the law.

What we can continue to do is ignore these issues and sweep the discussion under the rug.

Mrs. she wants to continue in political life, but why did she choose the Senate?

In politics, everything has its time. I am finishing my second term as a deputy. I was Minister of Agriculture. I think I acquired a piece of luggage to help my state not only for the agro. A senator may even have experience in a sector, but he or she needs to have a greater background, and I think I’ve acquired that experience, this broader world view. I made my name available. I am a pre-candidate for the PP for the Senate. There are other good candidates, but I hope I get my chance.