São Paulo, 1/13/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The target of creating 1.32 million jobs in the Brazilian agrobusiness sector in 2004 is quite feasible, says the president of the Rural Society (Sociedade Rural Brasileira) (SRB), João de Almeida Sampaio Filho. According to Sampaio Filho, if the coffee and dairy sectors get the assistance they need, financing becomes easy and farm insurance is made available, there is no reason the target cannot be achieved.

The 1.32 million job target was set in a study by the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) (BNDES).

In his radio program ("Breakfast with the President"), president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva talked about the capacity of the farm sector to create jobs. There has been extraordinary growth in this sector, he declared. It is an area where Brazil will export more and invest better, with special attention to family farming and land reform, said the president.

Minister of Agriculture, Robert Rodrigues, explains that some 400,000 direct jobs should be created, plus another 340,000 indirect jobs in the farm productive chain, and an additional 580,000 as a result of sector revenue. The minister said he expects total grain production in Brazil to rise from this year's 123 million tons to almost 130 million tons in 2004. (AB)