The head of the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq), João Marchesan, said Monday that the modernization of agricultural machines in Brazil depends on the conditions of the next Harvest Plan 2022/23, under formulation by the government, and requested R$32 billion for Moderfrota — a program for the upgrading of the tractors fleet and other agricultural equipment. That amount is much higher than the R$7.5 billion available for the line in this season 2021/22.
During the opening in Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo state) of the 27th edition of Agrishow (international fair of agricultural technology), Mr. Marchesan said that half of the machines currently used by Brazilian farmers is already over 15 years old and must be renewed.
He told Agriculture Minister Marcos Montes, present at the event, that farmers need a Crop Plan with interests compatible with the country’s economic situation. He also highlighted the need for predictability and security in the use of funds. The subsidized lines of this Crop Plan 2021/22 have been suspended since February due to the exhaustion of the National Treasury budget.
Mr. Montes will meet Tuesday with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes and Chief of Staff Ciro Nogueira to discuss the budget for rural credit subsidy. The intention is both to unlock the current Crop Plan — which depends on the vote of bill number 1/2022, scheduled for this week — and to outline scenarios for 2022/23, even more difficult due to the federal government’s budget squeeze.
Besides Moderfrota, Abimaq suggested the allocation of R$11 billion for the purchase of machines by family farmers through Pronaf — a government program intended to strengthen them. In the 2021/22 harvest, R$9.9 billion have already been injected in the Mais Alimentos financing line program. In all, small producers had R$17.6 billion for investments in general.
For the lines of innovation and modernization in farms, such as Inovagro and Moderagro, the proposal is for R$8.15 billion. In the current season, the combined amount for the two programs was below R$4.5 billion.
Mr. Marchesan also emphasized the need for investments in storage and irrigation. The suggestion for Proirriga (program for irrigated plantations) is R$5 billion, compared to an availability of R$1.35 billion for this harvest. For the PCA (program to finance warehouses), the request is for R$15 billion, three times more than the current R$4.12 billion.
“The positive indication of a new record harvest shows that Brazil is responding well to the demand for food. But this puts pressure on the storage deficit, close to 100 million tonnes, bordering the logistical chaos,” he added.
The country has about 740 companies that manufacture agricultural machines and implements, and more or less 30% of the production is exported. The turnover of this segment is close to R$100 billion. “To grow, we must invest. There is no other way,” Mr. Marchesan said. Between subsided and free resources, the 2021/22 Crop Plan totaled R$73.45 billion in funds for investments in farms.
Still at the opening of Agrishow, the CEO of Caixa Econômica Federal, Pedro Guimarães, once again challenged Banco do Brasil, the leader in the rural credit market in the country, by saying that his bank will take the lead in this ranking by the end of 2024. “Here we heard several criticisms in relation to Caixa. Great, I’m here to learn. Today, we are only very bad. The day that Caixa is more or less we will be the biggest agribusiness bank,” he said.
According to the event’s organization, Agrishow may total R$6 billion in deals, even with the lack of definition about the Crop Plan.
Source: Valor International