Rio - For the second year in a row, Rio de Janeiro will host the world's largest organic products fair, the Biofach, on September 8-9. Yesterday (3), Governor Rosinha Matheus received Esther Craus, the president of the event, from Germany, in the Guanabara Palace.

The Governor underscored that Rio de Janeiro is the first state in Brazil to adopt a policy of incentives for agriculture without the use of pesticides. The state's Cultivate Organic Program offers farmers a specific credit line with annual interest rates of 2% and a 60-month repayment period.

Craus remarked that, among Latin American countries, Brazil has made the greatest progress in measures aimed at the cultivation and commercialization of organic products, which should lower production costs and, consequently, consumer prices. She pointed out, however, that producers still find it difficult to market what they produce. According to her, the lack of information about organic products also hampers sales.

The purpose of the Biofach is to support developing markets through the provision of technical, scientific, and management information to the organic sector in Latin America. In last year's edition, the fair exceeded the organizers' expectations, attracting over a thousand participants.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Cristiane Ribeiro
Translator: David Silberstein
08/04/2004