The still partial accounting recorded by the campaigns of candidates for the Presidency of the Republic at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) shows that the largest individual donors to Lula (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) are people linked to agribusiness.
⚖️ Electoral legislation prohibits donations from legal entities, such as companies, to electoral campaigns. Contributions from individuals are permitted, within legal limits.
At the top of the ranking of donors to Lula's campaign is Erasmo Carlos Battistella, who has contributed, to date, R$500,000. The businessman is CEO of Be8, a biodiesel producer, and a member of the federal government's Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development, the "Conselhão".
The businessman donated the same amount to Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign, whose first place on the list of donors is occupied by another name in agriculture, Eloi Vitório Marchett, a businessman linked to the soybean sector. Marchett has so far donated R$2 million to the PL senator.
🔎 The g1 survey with the ranking of donors is partial. The deadline for reporting by campaigns that went to the second round ends on November 14th.
Agribusiness accounts for around 25% of Brazilian GDP and is one of the main drivers of the country's economy. The sector's demands range from rural production to industry and export.
READ ALSO:
The candidates' proposals for rural activities range from grain production and livestock farming to agroindustry, the manufacture of biofuels and food exports.
See Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro's proposals for agribusiness and the main demands of sector entities for the next president.
Lula (PT)
President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during the launch ceremony of the 2023/2024 Harvest Plan. — Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
Lula's government plan proposes strengthening rural credit via the Safra Plan, guaranteeing a credit policy for small producers with Pronaf, expanding the Family Farming Safra Plan and simplifying access to credit, including the digitalization of services.
Lula also plans, if re-elected, to expand rural insurance and create a national climate resilience program in the countryside, with soil conservation measures, expansion of irrigation, precision agriculture and modernization of weather forecasting and warning systems for producers.
The candidate defends modernizing sustainable agriculture and livestock farming, with support from Embrapa. It also proposes, if re-elected, to continue the national production of fertilizers and strengthen the production of biofuels, such as ethanol, biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), in addition to encouraging the use of agro-industrial waste to generate bioenergy and biogas.
In the commercial area, Lula promises to strengthen diplomacy to expand access for Brazilian products to international markets, highlighting the 656 new markets opened under the current administration.
The plan also foresees stimulating the issuance of agribusiness bonds in the capital market, encouraging research and technological development applied to the sector and mobilizing private investments for ecological transformation.
For family farming, Lula plans, if re-elected, to expand technical assistance and facilitate access to financing and machines adapted to small producers. It also proposes to strengthen rural insurance and Garantia-Safra, maintain food purchase programs and increase the participation of fresh or minimally processed products in school meals.
The plan includes agrarian reform, land regularization, encouraging agroecology, access to water in regions with drought and support for artisanal fishing and family aquaculture.
Flávio Bolsonaro (PL)
Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), visited Norte Show 2026, in Sinop (MT). — Photo: Vittor Sales/Disclosure Campaign Flávio Bolsonaro
The PL candidate's government plan, presented to the Electoral Court, proposes expanding connectivity in the countryside, with internet access in rural areas with low coverage, continuing the Wi-Fi Brasil program, created during the government of his father, Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Flávio advocates simplifying authorizations for irrigation, developing irrigation hubs in Matopiba and the semi-arid region and expanding the use of recycled water.
In the land area, the candidate proposes to speed up the regularization and titling of small rural properties, in addition to unifying land and environmental records into a single system.
The candidate also plans, if elected, to expand rural sanitation, strengthen rural insurance and increase harvest storage capacity.
To reduce external dependence, Flávio advocates encouraging the national production of fertilizers from mineral resources available in Brazil, such as potassium and phosphate. The plan also foresees measures to facilitate the securitization and reorganization of rural producers' debts.
In the energy area, the candidate proposes to transform Brazil into a biofuels powerhouse, including ethanol, biodiesel, HVO, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biogas.
Among the proposed measures are offering special lines of financing for biogas companies, encouraging biomass production through the Safra Plan, expanding RenovaBio abroad and seeking solutions to face sanctions from the United States, China and Europe against Brazilian products.
The challenges of the sector: from fiscal balance to State policies
The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) highlights the control of public spending as an "imperative necessity" to contain the national debt and allow interest rates to fall, which affect producers' indebtedness.
The entity also demands the reformulation of the rules of social programs to encourage productive reintegration and combat the shortage of labor in the field, identified by 44.5% of producers as the sector's main challenge, according to a CNA study.
The Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag) released a letter to the presidential candidates proposing a strategic agenda for the sector, in which it defends State policies organized around five central challenges:
The creation of a national policy for financing, rural insurance and climate resilience in agriculture;
An industrial policy to strengthen sector chains;
The implementation of a permanent governance, planning and financing model, coordinating public and private investments and reducing bottlenecks;
The valorization of agroindustry through permanent initiatives of institutional communication, education and rapprochement with society;
Strengthening trade defense to open markets and consolidate Brazil's global leadership in tropical agriculture, bioeconomy and energy transition.
For the next President of the Republic, the entity proposes the construction of an agile and predictable institutional environment, capable of attracting private capital, accelerating technological transition and data governance in the field, in addition to establishing a national communication and education policy based on scientific-technical evidence to combat disinformation.
