Recife, January 14, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Farmers from eight municipalities in the arid zone of Pernambuco, around four thousand families with a low Human Development Index (HDI), will receive the benefits of a program of technical assistance and rural extension. These actions, which will contribute to improving the families' alimentation and nutrition, were announced today by the president of the Pernambucan Agricultural Research Company (IPA), José Marcos de Lima, at the institution's headquarters in this capital.

The initiative will be implemented by the IPA with R$ 1.3 million in resources from the Ministry of Agrarian Development and the state government. The goal is to stimulate the production of food crops free of agrotoxic substances, as well as honey, chickens, sheep, and goats, both for subsistence and commercialization of surpluses on the market. (DAS)