With the war between Russia and Ukraine affecting international fertilizer exports, which are essential for agricultural production, the Brazilian government will try to guide the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to transform the input into an essential item for global food security. .
On the 16th, the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, will hold a virtual meeting with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. The director of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, is also expected to participate in the conversation.
“We are going to have a meeting, on the 16th, with the president of FAO and with all the hemispheric countries to see if we can put fertilizers in this line of food security, which the world wants and needs so much. has fertilizers. So, we have this discussion with all the countries of North America and Latin America, to discuss and take this, if there is a consensus, to be taken to the UN”, said the minister, in an interview, today (11), to announce the launch of National Fertilizer Plan.
Currently, Tereza Cristina chairs the Inter-American Board of Agriculture. Next week’s meeting is part of the FAO Roundtable on Supplies for Sustainable Agrifood Systems.
The meeting will be attended by the Director General of FAO, Qu Dongyu, the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Food Systems, Agnes Kalibata, and the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero.
According to the minister, the objective will be to promote frank and open exchange on the main challenges facing the agricultural sector of the countries of the Americas in the current economic and geopolitical context of the post-pandemic.
This week, the minister invited the members of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) to participate in the virtual meeting. “I believe that our region should take the initiative and lead the debate on these topics, so that we can explore courses of action and joint solutions to minimize the risks to global supply,” said the minister, according to the ministry’s advisory. Tereza Cristina made her last participation in the CAS as minister today. She will leave the position at the end of this month to run for the Senate for Mato Grosso do Sul.
national plan
In the morning, the minister, President Jair Bolsonaro and several ministers participated in the launch of the National Fertilizer Plan. During the ceremony, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture said that the proposal aims to develop actions for the country to reduce external dependence on the purchase of the product.
Inputs, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are widely used by the agricultural sector and are considered essential to supply one or more nutrients to crops.
Brazil consumes 8% of all world fertilizer production, estimated at 55 million tons. According to the minister, despite this, the country imports 85% of the input used by agribusiness, mainly from Russia. The plan’s expectation is to reduce such dependence to 45%.
This Saturday (12), the Minister of Agriculture will travel to Canada. She is going to talk to businessmen and government representatives about the possibility of increasing potash exports to Brazil. Canada is the world’s largest producer of potash, with about 33% of world production.
According to the minister, the idea is to talk to the private sector about the Brazilian government’s willingness to facilitate sales to Brazil.
On the trip to Ottawa, meetings are planned with presidents of potash producing and exporting companies located in the country, as well as representatives of the Canadian government, the ministry said.
In February, the minister traveled to Iran to negotiate an increase in fertilizer exports to Brazil. Yesterday, in Brasília, she received representatives from Arab countries to discuss the possibility of increasing the export of inputs for national agriculture.
