The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the National Fertilizer Plan should be launched on Friday (11), at 11 am, in the Planalto Palace. The Director of Programs of the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Luis Eduardo Rangel, had anticipated to report that the folder planned to present the plan by the end of March, through presidential decree.

Rangel, who represents Agriculture in the Interministerial Working Group that discusses the subject in government, said at the time that the date depended on the agenda of the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, and the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, and that there was a desire to make the launch as soon as possible. The main objective of the initiative is to reduce the external dependence of fertilizers in the country, currently by 85%, through the expansion of local production.

The Executive discussed how to present the plan on fertilizers - by decree or bill sent to Congress. According to Rangel, the decree was chosen because the bases of the plan are the responsibility of the Executive and the government will act to meet the short, medium and long term goals. There are axes that will depend on articulation with the Legislature and other bodies, from the launch of the policy.

The project has been developed since the end of 2020 in partnership with other government agencies, such as The Civil House, Ministries of Agriculture, Mines and Energy, Infrastructure, Economy, Environment, Science and Technology, Office of Institutional Security and Attorney General of the Union, in addition to Embrapa, and coordinated by the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic.

In the interview this week, Rangel detailed that the plan's overall goal is to reduce the need to import fertilizers from the current 85% to about 60% in 30 years. The document also includes short (5-year) and medium-term (10-year) objectives of gradually reducing the country's dependence on international suppliers, according to the need for each nutrient. Annual revisions to the plan are planned.

In addition, the targets are divided into four large groups of fertilizers: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and emerging chains (such as biological), each with specific objectives and a complete mapping of the national, global supply and the Brazilian potential for nutrient exploration.

In the short term, some measures are being adopted, as reported by the director, such as the "fertilizer diplomacy", in progress, tax reviews in relation to imported and domestic and inclusion of fertilizers in the list of strategic minerals of the Federal Government's Investment Partnership Program (PPI).

Source: Canal Rural