Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) met this Tuesday (17) with the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture to take stock of the Ministry's actions in 2019. At the meeting, the minister announced one of the first agendas for 2020 , when he will go to India in January, accompanying President Jair Bolsonaro's official mission, to discuss expanding the market with the country.
Partnerships in ethanol production will be one of the themes, according to the minister. “One of the Prime Minister’s [Narendra Modi] requests when he was here [at the BRICS Summit meeting] was to discuss bioenergy,” said the minister.
Another issue is the prospect of selling poultry meat to Indians, who have opened the market to Brazilian products. In 2019, India consumed around 5 million tons of meat, an amount higher than the volume of Brazilian chicken meat exported to other countries, of 4 million tons in 2018. Per capita consumption is 3 kg per person per year, considered low, but with forecasts of growth to 9.1 kg by 2030. In Brazil, current consumption per inhabitant is 45 kg, in China, 10.5 kg, and in the United States, 43 kg.
To parliamentarians, the minister presented an overview of the actions carried out by the Ministry in 2019, the first year of management in charge of the department. The retrospective brings data on the expansion and reduction of bureaucracy in rural credit, an increase in rural insurance policies, effective agricultural defense actions, the opening of foreign markets for agricultural products and incentive programs for sustainable agriculture.
Tereza Cristina also presented the perspectives for 2020, such as inclusion in the countryside (AgroNordeste, land regularization), agriculture combined with sustainability (expansion of the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan, cooperativism and bioeconomy) and connectivity in the rural area (Agricultural Observatory, which integrates the most diverse databases supporting public managers in decision-making).
The minister thanked Minister Ricardo Salles (Environment), who also participated in the FPA meeting, and parliamentarians for the partnership for the development of the agricultural sector and the country this year. Minister Salles highlighted the partnerships between the two ministries, including a program for paying for environmental services, bioeconomy, land regularization and economic and ecological zoning.
