Brazil adds tomato to PGPAF price-guarantee list; orange bonus reaches 73.64% in Sergipe

Tomato has been added to the list of crops covered by Brazil's Family Farming Price Guarantee Program (PGPAF), a change that takes effect this month and is aimed at family growers in Bahia and Piauí who are selling below production cost. The measure was formalised by Ordinance SAF/MDA No. 372, published in the Diário Oficial da União on Friday, 7 August, according to SpaceMoney.

The ordinance sets discounts on Pronaf loan instalments for the period from 10 August to 9 September. Across all covered crops and states, the largest discount in the August round reaches 73.64% and applies to oranges in Sergipe, based on production-cost surveys carried out by the Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab).

How the bonus works

PGPAF operates as a price floor tied to credit rather than to public purchases. When the market price of a covered product in a given state falls below the program's guarantee price, the farmer receives a bonus that is deducted directly from the value of the Pronaf financing instalment. Conab calculates the production costs, and those figures are the main parameter for setting the bonus percentages, which are revised every month.

Because the benefit is delivered as a credit discount and not as a purchase, no volume is withdrawn from the market. Supply available to wholesalers and processors is unchanged; the transfer shows up in farm cash flow. Tomato's entry into the monthly list reflects price pressure in producing regions, particularly in the Northeast, where high supply and distribution logistics have pushed quotations down, SpaceMoney reported.

August adjustments across crops

Beyond tomato, the August ordinance changed coverage for several other crops:

• Garlic gained a bonus in Minas Gerais.
• Mango and cassava root were included for farmers in Minas Gerais.
• Banana coverage was extended to Espírito Santo.
• Orange gained a bonus in Paraná.

The largest discounts nationally are concentrated in oranges: 73.64% in Sergipe, 63.60% in Pará and 57.09% in Bahia. Next come cassava root in Espírito Santo at 52.70% and 47.92%, garlic in Rio Grande do Sul at 50.61%, and cowpea beans at 49.12% in Mato Grosso and 47.38% in Tocantins. Those percentages indicate how far domestic prices for the crops concerned have fallen against the program's cost parameters, with a direct effect on smallholder income.

Crops leaving the list

Cocoa and sisal dropped out of the bonus list in August, which SpaceMoney attributes to a price recovery over the previous month that carried both above the program's reference value. That rotation is a standing feature of PGPAF: the list is adjusted monthly so that support is directed only where there is an effective need, and it can change again in September.

The bonuses take effect on Monday, 10 August and run until 9 September. The full list of products and states is set out in Ordinance SAF/MDA No. 372, available on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA). Conab stresses that the production costs it prepares are the main parameter for calculating the bonuses, which the agency presents as a guarantee of transparency and predictability for the program.

Credit backdrop

The adjustment lands as rural credit for the 2026/27 season begins to flow. SpaceMoney reported that BNDES approved R$ 7.1 billion under the 2026/27 Plano Safra in its first eight days, with a focus on investment lines and cooperatives, while bottlenecks in financing persist. Because PGPAF works through Pronaf instalments, the reach of the tomato bonus depends on how many family growers in Bahia and Piauí are carrying outstanding financing during the one-month window.