With the war between Russia and Ukraine affecting international exports of fertilizers, which are essential for agricultural production, the Brazilian government will try to guide the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to convert inputs into goods essential for global food security. .

On the 16th, Minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina will have a virtual meeting with FAO Director General Qu Dongyu. The director of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, is also expected to participate in the talks.

“We will have a meeting, on the 16th, with the president of FAO and with all the countries of the world to see if we can put fertilizer on this line of food security, which the world so desperately wants and needs. So we are discussing this with all countries in North America and Latin America, to discuss and bring this, if there is consensus, to be brought to the United Nations,” said the Minister of Finance in an interview, today (11), to announce the launch National Fertilizer Plan.

Currently, Tereza Cristina heads the Inter-American Council of Agriculture. Next week’s meeting is part of the FAO Roundtable on Supply for Sustainable Agricultural Food Systems.

The meeting will be attended by the Director General of FAO, Qu Dongyu, the Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Food System, Agnes Kalibata, and the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero.

According to the minister, the aim is to promote honest and open exchanges about the main challenges facing the agricultural sector of American nations in the current post-pandemic economic and geopolitical context.

This week, the minister invited members of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) to participate in a virtual meeting. “I believe that our region should take the initiative and lead the debate on these topics, so that we can explore joint actions and solutions to minimize risks to global supply,” the minister said, according to the ministry’s advice. Tereza Cristina made her last participation at CAS as minister today. He will leave office at the end of this month to run for the Senate for Mato Grosso do Sul.

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In the morning, the Minister, President Jair Bolsonaro and several ministers participated in the launch of the National Fertilizer Plan. During the ceremony, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture said that the proposal aims to develop measures for the country to reduce external dependence on the purchase of products.

Inputs, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are widely used by the agricultural sector and are considered essential for supplying one or more nutrients to crops.

Brazil consumes 8% of all world fertilizer production, an estimated 55 million tonnes. According to the minister, however, the state imports 85% of the inputs used by agribusiness, mainly from Russia. The plan’s hope is to reduce that dependence to 45%.

This Saturday (12), the Minister of Agriculture will visit Canada. He will talk to businessmen and government representatives about the possibility of increasing potassium exports to Brazil. Canada is the world’s largest producer of potassium, with about 33% of world production.

According to the minister, the idea is to talk to the private sector about the Brazilian government’s willingness to facilitate sales to Brazil.

On the way to Ottawa, meetings are planned with the presidents of potassium-producing and exporting companies located in the country, as well as representatives from the Canadian government, the ministry said.

In February, the minister traveled to Iran to negotiate increasing fertilizer exports to Brazil. Yesterday, in Brasilia, he received representatives from Arab countries to discuss the possibility of increasing the export of inputs for national agriculture.