Spokesmen for the Brazilian government say that by the end of 2006 they intend to make an additional 155,000 families land owners, bringing the total number of families settled on their own farms through the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Land Reform Plan (Programa Nacional de Reforma Agrária) to 400,000 families in four years.
According to minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, last year he had a record budget of over US$ 1 billion (2.3 billion reais).
Out of that total, US$ 574 million (1.3 billion reais) was used for the acquisition of land. That allowed the Land Reform Institute (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária) (Incra) to make 127,500 families new land owners in 2005.
Rossetto also declared that this year the government will continue its revamping of Incra, making it more efficient and responsive. Last year Incra acquired 3,000 computers. It also received 300 GPS instruments to aid it in demarcating land.
The Minister concluded by saying that the government is also getting more technical assistance to families that have been settled. Last year, according to the government, 450,000 families got information on crops and animal husbandry.
The Ministry opened up 10,000 kilometers of roads benefiting 191,000 families, put 74,000 people in educational programs and made it possible for another 91,000 families to obtain credit for homebuilding.
Agência Brasil