Brazil has potash reserves to supply agriculture until 2100, says research

As agricultural producers in the country worry about the effects of the war in Ukraine on fertilizer supplies, research by the Federal University of Minas Gerais shows that Brazil has reserves that could guarantee potassium supplies by 2100.

Currently, according to data from Embrapa, 50% of imports of the input come from Russia and Belarus.

According to professor Raoni Rajão, from the Department of Production Engineering at UFMG, two thirds of the reserves are concentrated in the states of Sergipe, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Among those in the Amazon, only 11% overlap with indigenous lands that have not yet been homologated. The numbers were raised based on data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The information comes at a time when the federal government project that seeks to authorize mineral exploration in indigenous lands may be discussed again, after being stopped for two years.

Leaders of benches in the Chamber of Deputies reported to CNNaccording to Larissa Rodrigues, about a meeting this Tuesday (8) to deal with the matter.

The parliamentarians said that the president of the House, Arthur Lira, wants to speed up approval due to Brazil’s difficulty in having access to fertilizers amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In an interview with a radio station in Roraima this Monday (7), President Jair Bolsonaro defended the project and criticized the demarcation of indigenous lands.

“We have a project since 2020 that allows us to explore these indigenous lands, according to the interest of the ministry, if they agree, we can explore minerals, build hydroelectric plants. What the farmer does on your land, the indigenous person can do next door”, declared Bolsonaro.

However, Professor Raoni Rajão does not see it the same way. “The statement that it is necessary to change the legislation does not corroborate,” he told CNN.

Everaldo Zonta, a professor in the Soils department at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), still believes that deposits on indigenous lands bring the challenge of technology.

“It’s a potassium that won’t be available anytime soon, not because of environmental problems, but it’s a deep brine potassium. We don’t have technology yet,” he declared.

How to gain independence?

Brazil depends on the importation of fertilizers based on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to guarantee agricultural production. They are used to correct the soil and ensure the increase in the crop.

According to researchers Raoni Rajão and Everaldo Zonta, the country had potassium independence until 1990.

“It comes from the privatization of Vale, which was the big producer. The increase in food production, which currently maintains a positive trade balance, is due to the increase in the consumption of fertilizers, but national production did not follow the same line”, analyzes Zonta.

The two professors are unanimous in calling for a national policy for the extraction of potassium. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply should launch a national fertilizer plan later this month.

Rajão believes that the war scenario shows the importance of investing in the Brazilian market, but argues that incentives are needed to start competition with international giants that dominate sales.

“The federal government is preparing a fertilizer plan, but this involves several important points, such as equating the issue of taxes. In Brazil, if you produce, you pay 8% ICMS. If you import, you don’t pay tax. It makes no sense for you to have this differentiated treatment, in addition to having the need for a long-term action, with stimuli from public banks”, he defended.

Zonta highlights the importance of investments in research for solutions for the search for fertilizers.

Stocks for three months

The National Association for the Diffusion of Fertilizers (Anda) announced that producers have a three-month supply of fertilizers.

The entity maintains dialogue with the federal government to resolve the problem and hopes that the war in Ukraine will end as soon as possible.

THE CNN made contact with the ministries of Mines and Energy and of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply to seek a position on domestic potash exploration and awaits a response.