BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has announced a 27 per cent rise in the “harvest plan” budget for sustainable agriculture, with 364 billion reals (£60bn) earmarked for the project.

His government intends to recover 30 million hectares of degraded farmland rather than rely on deforestation to increase agricultural output. It has expressed concern not just at Amazon deforestation but at the clearing of the Cerrado in Brazil’s mid-west, the world’s most species-rich savannah. 

The Harvest Plan is part of a package of measures on agricultural sustainability including the restoration of the National Food Council, which subsidises small-scale farming and the delivery of its produce across the country. 

The restoration of degraded farmland is a project the government is working on with Chinese agricultural firm Cofco following talks in Beijing in April. China is Brazil’s biggest trading partner, while Brazil is China’s foremost supplier of farm produce including chicken, beef, soybeans and sugar.

In an aside on food at his Tuesday press conference, President Lula criticised the fare at state dinners he attended in Paris and Rome last week, saying it was “not that great” and the portions were too small.