Donation of bean seeds benefits 12 thousand family farming families in Minas Gerais

The Minas Gerais Rural Assistance and Extension Company (Emater-MG) concluded, this week, the donations of bean seeds to municipalities affected by severe drought in 2023. The last packages were delivered in Paracatu, in the Northwest of Minas, during a meeting between directors of Emater-MG, mayors and leaders of the region. Deliveries began on January 17th.

The emergency action by the Government of Minas Gerais benefited more than 12 thousand family farming families. In total, 254 municipalities were covered in the North, Northwest, Central regions and in the Jequitinhonha, Mucuri and Rio Doce valleys.

The packages were donated to city halls. To facilitate logistics, Emater-MG held delivery meetings in cities that served as a base for each city hall to pick up bags of seeds. There were 13 meetings: Januária, Brasília de Minas, Nova Porteirinha, Montes Claros, Salinas, Almenara, Teófilo Otoni, Governador Valadares, Capelinha, Diamantina, Curvelo, Santana do Pirapama and Paracatu. Each municipality defines the criteria for beneficiaries and distributes it to farmers, with the help of Emater-MG.

Emater-MG technicians recommend that planting be done in February and March, taking advantage of the rainy season. The donated variety allows for three generations of planting. As each bag of ten kilos of seed can produce approximately 600 kilos of beans in the first harvest, it is possible to produce up to three thousand kilos of beans, as long as 20 kilos are planted in the second and third harvest.

Considering beans at a price of R$ 8,00/kilo, it can be said that each of the benefiting families will be able to obtain R$ 20 thousand, selling 2,5 thousand kilos of production and using another 500 kilos for consumption, replanting and distribution. With the 12 thousand families directly benefiting alone, it is estimated that R$240 million will be generated from the sale of beans, guaranteeing income for family farmers.

Selection of municipalities

The benefiting municipalities were selected according to their situation, identified in a survey carried out by the company's technical team. More than half of city halls have declared a state of emergency due to the long drought. To define the quantity of seeds donated to each municipality, Emater-MG made a calculation that considered the number of family farmers in the locations, the Human Development Index (HDI) and the number of bags available for this emergency action.