Brasília, 2/4/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Credit for the 2003/2004 harvest released by the government in the second half of 2003 rose to R$20.5 billion, up 22%, compared to the same period in 2002. The government is scheduled to release another R$12.5 billion by the middle of this year to allow farmers to complete the 2003/2004 harvest.

One of the programs that got special attention was the Moderinfra, which is aimed at infrastructure investments. It got R$143 million, up 633% over the year before. Most of the funds went into irrigation systems and storage facilities. (AB)