The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA) issued guidance to financial institutions that operate with the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf) to facilitate the renegotiation of debts for family onion producers across the country. The measure aims to protect the income of these farmers in the face of temporary commercialization difficulties, price fluctuations, and challenges in distributing their production.
According to the document, institutions may offer the extension of installments for working capital financing for up to 36 months, extend investment loan terms by up to one year after the end of the contract, or redistribute amounts among the remaining installments. However, these renegotiations are not automatic: producers must request them directly from the financial institution where the financing was contracted and present proof of payment difficulties along with documents demonstrating the economic impact.
The MDA recommends that requests be made before installments become due, to avoid the contract being recorded as delinquent. In cases where the difficulty affects a larger group of farmers in the same region, the analysis may be based on a collective technical report, without preventing the individual evaluation of each operation.
The initiative reinforces the government’s commitment to preserving the productive capacity of family farming, which is considered strategic for food supply and for the local economy. In addition, onion producers may also benefit from the Family Agriculture Price Guarantee Program (PGPAF), which grants automatic discounts on financing installments when the market price falls below the government-defined guaranteed price, provided that the farmer remains in good standing with payments.
This set of measures seeks to provide greater financial relief to farmers facing temporary difficulties while maintaining production and income stability in rural areas.