Brazil’s presidential candidates are proposing stronger crop insurance, debt-relief measures and policies to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fertilizers as they seek support from an agribusiness sector that accounts for about a quarter of the economy and is a major force in global food supply.
The AgriBiz sent five questions on farm credit, insurance, geopolitics and climate change to candidates polling at 1% or more. Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, or PL, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party, or PT, and Ronaldo Caiado of the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, responded. Augusto Cury (Avante party), Renan Santos (Missão) and Romeu Zema (Novo) did not respond.
Brazil holds the first round of its presidential election this Sunday, Oct. 4.
The three candidates who submitted proposals all called for strengthening crop insurance to reduce farmers’ exposure to climate risks. Debt restructuring, reducing reliance on imported fertilizers and taking a firm stance in trade negotiations also featured prominently in their responses, though their proposed approaches differed.
Polarization
For the opposition candidates, criticism of the current administration was central to their diagnosis of the sector’s problems.
“The biggest problem facing the sector is precisely the Lula government, which has always downplayed the leading role of Brazilian agribusiness,” Bolsonaro said.
Caiado also criticized the administration, saying farmers “have never received the treatment they deserve” under the PT.
Lula, meanwhile, said the sector’s main challenge is a mismatch between rising exposure to climate risks, higher production costs stemming from wars, lower commodity prices and weaker income protection. Together, those factors leave farmers more vulnerable to losses and debt, according to his campaign.
Debt Strains
Farm indebtedness and defaults emerged as one of the central issues in the candidates’ responses, amid expensive and scarce credit.
“Agriculture did not end up in this situation by choice, but because it was caught off guard by the surge in interest rates, which affected the debt of those who had borrowed to produce more food,” Caiado said. He called for debt renegotiations that provide treatment better suited to the sector.
Lula’s campaign also supports the possibility of restructuring farm debt, but said the process should distinguish among borrowers.
“There is no single debt situation,” Lula’s campaign said. “There are economically viable producers who were affected by successive climate losses, others facing temporary cash-flow difficulties, and cases of imbalance in which simply extending the debt only postpones the problem.”
The campaign said measures should be targeted and proportional to each borrower’s circumstances, including debt settlements, maturity extensions and grace periods aligned with farmers’ income-generation cycles.
Bolsonaro said he would increase government subsidies for crop-insurance premiums and create securitization tools and mechanisms to restructure farm debt.
Caiado pledged to increase funding for Brazil’s crop-insurance premium subsidy program to about $463 million (2.4 billion reais) in 2027 and to about $772 million (4 billion reais) by the end of his term.
Lula also linked crop insurance to reducing financial risk and strengthening farmers’ future cash flow to help service debt. His campaign said any expansion should offer predictable funding to avoid higher costs or reduced coverage and should be more closely targeted at producers, crops and regions facing the greatest exposure.
Climate Policy
All three candidates described climate change as a priority for a potential administration and agreed on the need to reduce the growing risks it poses to agriculture, while differing on how to respond.
Lula said the response should combine prevention, adaptation of production systems and financial protection. His campaign pointed to Brazil’s agricultural climate-risk zoning system, currently being updated by Embrapa, the country’s state agricultural research agency, which identifies the safest planting windows by crop, soil type and region.
Bolsonaro proposed economic incentives for conservation, including expanded payments for environmental services and financial instruments to compensate landowners who preserve native vegetation, restore degraded land and protect water resources.
Caiado again cited crop insurance as part of the response to climate risk, arguing for a more proactive approach to prevention.
This story was translated from the original Portuguese with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by The AgriBiz editorial staff.
