Family farming’s harvest plan is growing, but falls short of the sector’s needs, according to FPA.

The second part of the 2026/2027 Harvest Plan was launched this Tuesday (30) and brought a 9% increase in resources allocated to family farming. The National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (Pronaf) will have R$ 85.2 billion available. Despite the increase, the amount fell short of the request presented by the productive sector, which advocated R$ 104.9 billion to serve small producers, according to the Parliamentary Agricultural Front (FPA). Interest rates are also a point of attention. The request was for interest rates not to exceed 4% per year, which would help finance operating costs and also investments aimed at improving productive capacity. In general, there was a modest reduction in rates, of half a percentage point or one percentage point, depending on the line. With this, interest rates now vary between 0.5% and 7.5% per year. Last season, the variation was from 0.5% to 8% per year.

Government maintains limits and reduces financing capacity.

One of the main expectations of the productive sector was the expansion of the limits for gross agricultural income and financing. Gross agricultural income is used as a criterion for eligibility for access to Pronaf (National Program for Strengthening Family Farming). Since the 2021/2022 harvest, this ceiling has remained at R$ 500,000. The request was to raise the limit to R$ 750,000. The financing limit, however, has not been adjusted since the 2016/2017 harvest and remains at R$ 250,000. During the same period, production costs increased significantly. Between the 2019/2020 and 2024/2025 harvests, the average value of Pronaf loans more than doubled. Therefore, the sector advocated for an increase in the limit to R$ 400,000. In practice, maintaining these values puts pressure on financing for production costs. The gap between current limits and rising production costs has caused a kind of artificial misalignment, not due to a real increase in producer income, but due to the rise in activity costs.

Executive branch responds to request and expands funding for rural housing.

One of the proposals submitted by the sector was to increase the credit limits for the renovation and construction of rural housing. The request was to raise the amount that could be financed from R$ 100,000 to R$ 130,000. In the presentation of the Plano Safra (Agricultural Plan), the government highlighted the expansion of financing possibilities for rural housing within the Pronaf Mais Alimentos program. Families with a gross income of up to R$ 500,000 will be able to contract up to R$ 150,000 for this purpose, with interest rates of 7.5% per year. Families with an income of up to R$ 150,000 will be able to access up to R$ 100,000, with interest rates of 5% per year. In addition, a housing category was created within Pronaf B. Families with an income of up to R$ 60,000 will be able to finance up to R$ 10,000 for renovations to rural housing, with interest rates of 0.5% per year.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.