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Federal Government launches National Fertilizer Plan to reduce dependence on imported product

The plan has measures to stimulate national production and encourage new technologies to meet the demand for food production.

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Posted 3/11/2022 5:44 PM Updated 3/11/2022 9:33 PM

Federal Government launches National Fertilizer Plan to reduce dependence on imported product

The initiative will seek to readjust the balance between national production and imports. - Photo: Clauber Cléber/PR

 

The National Fertilizer Plan was launched with measures to reduce the dependence of Brazilian rural producers on imported fertilizer. The plan is a reference for planning the sector until 2050. The launch took place this Friday (11/03), with the participation of the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, at Palácio do Planalto.

 

The initiative will seek to readjust the balance between national production and imports. The intention is to meet the growing demand for fertilizer products and technologies, in order to make it possible for Brazil to have more autonomy, with a reduced percentage of external dependence for the supply of fertilizers to the producer.

 

Currently, Brazil occupies the 4th position in the world with about 8% of the global consumption of fertilizers. It is estimated that 85% of those used in Brazil are imported, in a global market with few suppliers. The idea is that, with the National Fertilizer Plan, it will be possible to reduce dependence on imports, in 2050, from the current 85% to 45%, even if the demand for fertilizers doubles in this period.

 

Fertilizers are responsible for providing nutrients to plants, so they are essential for Brazil, which is the world's fourth largest producer of grains, accounting for 7.8% of total world production.

 

President Jair Bolsonaro said that the plan launched today began to be developed between February and March of last year and the document presented is extremely important for the country. He also said that the concern with the fertilizer sector shows the Government's commitment to anticipating problems and seeking solutions.

 

Among the crops that most require the use of fertilizers are soybeans, corn and sugarcane, accounting for more than 73% of national consumption. The main nutrient used by Brazilian producers is potassium (38%). Then come phosphorus, with 33% of total fertilizer consumption, and nitrogen, with 29%.

 

The products arrive in the country mainly from Russia, China, Canada, Morocco and Belarus, according to data from the Ministry of Economy. Completing the list of the top ten fertilizer exporters to Brazil in 2021 are the United States, Qatar, Israel, Egypt and Germany.

 

Less dependency and innovation

The preparation of the plan began in 2021, under the coordination of the Special Secretariat for Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic, and was formalized this Friday through a decree signed by President Jair Bolsonaro.

 

The document has 80 goals and 130 short- and long-term structuring actions. An example is the mapping of paralyzed works that, once resumed and concluded, can increase national production of fertilizers. Another is the forecast of investment in the training and qualification of professionals to work in the fertilizer technology sector.

 

In addition to having the objective of reducing external dependence, the guidelines of the National Fertilizer Plan address a tax policy favorable to the sector to expand the competitive production of fertilizers, such as the increase of lines of promotion to the producer, incentives to private actions, expansion of installed production capacity and improvements in national infrastructure and logistics.

 

The plan also presents production opportunities with new technologies and environmental sustainability in relation to emerging products, such as organomineral and organic fertilizers - organic fertilizers enriched with minerals, for example - and by-products with potential for agricultural use, such as bioinputs and biomolecules, remineralizers, nanomaterials, among others.

 

The document also establishes the National Council for Fertilizers and Plant Nutrition, a consultative and deliberative body that coordinates and monitors the implementation of the National Fertilizer Plan.

 

Caravan

At the ceremony, a term was signed to make the Embrapa FertBrasil Caravan, foreseen in the Plan, viable. The caravan provides technical visits to the main agricultural centers with the objective of bringing knowledge and technology to Brazilian rural producers for the efficient use of fertilizers. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, the caravan will have an immediate impact capable of promoting savings of up to 20% in the use of fertilizers, already in the 2022/2023 crop, and resulting in up to a