Brasília, June 24, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, said today, on the Globo TV's "Good Morning, Brazil" program, that the government is working to make progress in the construction of an agrarian reform policy, without violence and conflict in the countryside. He guaranteed that the tension in areas that were invaded in the states of Pernambuco, Alagoas, the south of Pará, and, most of all, in Paraná "will be overcome through a vigorous program of agrarian reform." He added that the Pronaf (National Family Farming Program) will stimulate agricultural production and income generation for farmers.

With regard to the Harvest Plan for Family Farming, which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched this morning, with prospects for making R$ 5.4 billion available in loans, as well as income guarantee mechanisms, marketing support, and a card to simplify the life of family farmers, the Minister said that the measure also "conveys the deep respect and confidence we have in the response of family farming to the need to produce foodstuffs."

Rossetto explained that agrarian reform "is a process that presupposes land inspection, land acquisition, and the training of families, a permanent process," and that over 200 thousand hectares have already been expropriated in the first half of the year. In conclusion, he informed that the government is "enlarging the capacity of federal lands, unoccupied lands, and expropriated properties, and at the same time establishing conditions to restore the quality of our settlers." (DAS)