BRASILIA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazil announced Wednesday it would spend 190.25 billion reais (58.2 billion U.S. dollars) to finance the country's Agriculture and Livestock Plan 2017-2018, in a bid to reach a record grain harvest in that period.
During a ceremony at the presidential palace, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said that the agricultural sector was the strongest contributor to the 1 percent GDP growth Brazil saw in the first quarter after two years of negative growth.
"Agribusiness has become the great savior of the Brazilian economy this year," he said.
Maggi also highlighted agricultural exports had seen large added-value through expert knowledge.
"Brazil would not be the food producer it is today, without its technological know-how. Brazil sells a large quantity of knowledge and studied development in every ton," he expressed.
According to the ministry, the interest rate will be reduced by 1 percentage point a year for "priority programs" devoted to supply and technological innovation in agriculture.
The government estimates that production will increase to 232 million tons of grain for 2017-2018, an increase of 24.3 percent from the 2016-2017 level. Enditem
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