Project facilitates benefits for farmers who lose crops

The Senate plenary approved a bill that reduces the minimum crop loss required for family farmers to access the Harvest Guarantee Benefit (Bill 1.282/2024). Authored by Representative Carlos Veras (Workers' Party-PE) and reported by Senator Augusta Brito (Workers' Party-CE), the bill now awaits presidential approval.

Currently, farmers can benefit from the benefit if they lose 50% of their harvest. The project reduces this threshold to 40%. The loss refers to the production of crops such as beans, corn, rice, cassava, and cotton that are compromised by drought or excessive rainfall.

Although the bill stipulates that the benefit should be paid in up to three monthly installments per family, with the amount determined based on budget availability, the text allows for a single payment in cases of national emergency, state of public calamity, pandemic, or epidemic. The fund's expenses now include actions and projects focused on coexisting with the semi-arid region, increasing production capacity, and addressing climate change.

"The project aims to guarantee minimum survival conditions for family farmers in municipalities systematically subject to crop loss due to drought or excess water," said Augusta.

The proposal also expands the possibility of participation by municipalities outside the area of ​​the Superintendence of Development of the Northeast (Sudene), provided they meet the program's criteria, and includes new crops among those that can be considered for calculating crop losses.

The Harvest Guarantee Fund is a protection mechanism for family farmers who cultivate crops in areas prone to drought or excessive rainfall. Funded by contributions from farmers themselves, municipalities, states, and the federal government, the fund facilitates the payment of the Harvest Guarantee Benefit, a financial aid granted to producers who demonstrate significant production losses, as a means of ensuring their livelihood in situations of climate-related losses.