Brazilian president announces plan for green agriculture

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced on Thursday a plan to encourage environmental-friendly agriculture and organic food production. The president pledged that her administration was committed to carrying out the 8.8 billion-real (4 billion U.S. dollars) Agroecology Plan by the end of her term in December 2014. Her announcement came one day after protesting farmers occupied the Agriculture Ministry in capital Brasilia to demand "global action on food sovereignty" as part of World Food Day celebrations. They called for better conditions, land reform and transformation of the agribusiness sector, and rejected over-commercialization of agriculture. "It is possible for a country to grow, distribute wealth, and at the same time, preserve and protect the environment," Rousseff said. "With agroecology, it is possible to produce quality organic food." "Our country has taken important steps towards the construction of sustainable development standards" to ensure the success of land reforms, the president said, adding land expropriations required will take place by the end of the year.