Brasilia, June 3 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced Tuesday that her administration has allocated a total amount of $59.5 billion to support farming production in 2015-2016.

National producers can count on the government to fund sowing and harvesting, as the farming sector is a priority for the country, stated Rousseff during the announcement of the measure.

This represents the highest sum ever allocated to this sector in the country's history, she added – corresponding to a 25 percent increase (some $6 billion) compared to last year, and despite the current budget cuts affecting other sectors.

Rousseff explained that tax rates had been aligned without compromising the payment capacity of farmers, with different interest rates depending on priority lines and the size of the farms. For instance farmers will benefit from implementing measures protecting the environment, she said. The farming sector consisted in one of the few that recorded positive figures last year and in the first semester this year.

A FAO report released last September praised the Brazilian government’s efforts to promote food security and reduce hunger in the country. According to the U.N. body, federal expenditures on food security and nutrition programs and actions totaled approximately $35 billion in 2013.

In 2013, social protection programs accounted for the largest amount of Federal allocations to food security and nutrition, while programs related to food production and distribution, including those to promote family farming, accounted for one-sixth.