Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, and the Brazilian
minister of Agriculture, Reinhold Stephanes, have launched the
2009-2010 Agriculture and Livestock Plan (PAP), in the city of
Londrina, in the north of the state of Paraná. The plan sets aside
107.5 billion reais (US$ 54.8 billion) for the sector, 37% more than in
the 2008-2009 crop.
Commercial agriculture should receive 92.5 billion reais (US$ 47.2 billion) and family farming, 15 billion reais (US$ 7.6 billion).
According to Stephanes and to the minister of Planning, Paulo Bernardo, who disclosed the details of the plan in a press conference in Londrina, the volume of funding for commercial agriculture alone grew 42.3% in comparison with the previous plan.
The minister of Agriculture said that this is the second time that the federal government chooses the state of Paraná for launching the plan.
"The state has an organized agricultural sector and answers to one fifth of Brazilian agricultural output. With only 2.8% of the total Brazilian territory, it is the leading producer of grain in the country," he explained.
President Lula went to Paraná for the launch, and he traveled along with the ministers Edison Lobão, of Mines and Energy, and Dilma Rousseff, the Chief of Staff.
The president and his delegation were welcomed by the state governor Roberto Requião and by the secretary of Agriculture and Supply, Valter Bianchini.
ABr