The Chamber of Deputies approved Bill 1707/24, which creates new mechanisms to support family farming, focusing on cooperatives for shared photovoltaic energy generation and the implementation of environmental preservation and sustainable development programs.
The approved project reserves resources to guarantee financing for family farming cooperatives that adopt shared generation of photovoltaic solar energy.
This means that these cooperatives will be able to use solar energy for their rural activities, with the support of a guarantee fund, which will reserve R$400 million to facilitate loans during the first 18 months after the law is approved.
It will be up to the CNM (National Monetary Council) to define the financing conditions.
These cooperatives will be required to ensure that a minimum percentage of national content is used in their projects. The idea is that financing will be aligned with federal energy transition policies and decarbonisation.
The resource may come from rural credit from Pronaf (National Program for Strengthening Family Farming), as long as the energy generated is fully used in the agricultural production activities of the cooperative members.
Congressman Pedro Ucza (PT-SC), author of the bill, explained that the main objective is to allow family farmers to have their own solar energy cooperative, which can reduce costs and generate new sources of revenue.
Productive forest programs and agroforestry systems
In addition to photovoltaic energy, the project also creates two programs:
National Productive Forests Program: Focused on recovering degraded areas, promoting environmental regularization through family farming and encouraging the production of healthy food and sociobiodiversity products;
National Program for the Development of Agroecologically Based Agroforestry Systems (Prosaf): Aimed at biodiversity conservation, with a focus on climate-resilient agriculture, Prosaf will support the restoration of degraded areas and encourage sustainable practices that integrate agricultural production and environmental preservation.
Both programs will be specifically aimed at family farmers and traditional communities, such as indigenous and quilombola communities.
To ensure the efficient execution of the programs, a governance structure will be created that includes a management unit, a steering committee, and a technical committee, which will be responsible for defining and monitoring the goals, financing conditions, and guidelines for the projects.
Reactions in the Plenary
During the discussion in the Chamber, some deputies expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the the project. Representative Gilson Marques (Novo-SC) questioned whether small producers could be encouraged to replace their production with power plants, which could divert the original focus of the project.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the distribution of resources could be uneven among states, creating an advantage for some over others.
On the other hand, Congressman Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ) criticized the inclusion of agroforestry systems and productive forests, arguing that the project was expanded for electoral purposes, as these areas are more common among agrarian reform settlers and social movements.
In response, the project's author, Uczai, emphasized that the resources would not be distributed randomly, but rather as financing, with clear rules established by the CMN and that the criticisms regarding electoral targeting were unfounded.
all the content of Canal Solar is protected by copyright law, and partial or total reproduction of this site in any medium is expressly prohibited. If you are interested in collaborating or reusing part of our material, please contact us by email: redacao@canalsolar.com.br.
