Brazil Cotton Growers Seek $372 Million Aid to Support Prices 
Brazilian cotton producers urged the government to spend 800 million reais ($372 million) in subsidies to support cotton prices as a global slowdown cuts consumption and prices, an industry official said.
Growers asked the Agriculture Ministry to ensure they receive 44.6 reais per arroba, or 1.35 real per pound, said Sergio de Marco, the head of a cotton association that includes growers and government officials. The subsidy would be enough to cover about 65 percent of Brazil’s total cotton crop, he said.
Cotton growers are seeking assistance as prices for the commodity trade at about 1.17 real a pound, 13 percent below the minimum price for government purchases and lower than production costs, de Marco said today in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo.
“The government signaled it will help the sector, but we still don’t know how much it will offer,” de Marco said after attending an event with Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes.
Brazilian cotton growers this year cut by 21 percent the amount of land planted for the commodity and may reduce it further if prices stay down and the government fails to intervene, said Haroldo Cunha, the head of Brazilian Cotton Association.
“Growers are migrating from cotton to soybeans seeking higher yields,” Cunha said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo.
De Marco said he expects the government to hold three auctions for cotton growers starting in May.
Brazil is the fifth-biggest cotton producer and the fourth-biggest exporter.

                            巴西棉花種植者尋求3.72億美元援助
      由于經濟放緩造成消費和價格下降，巴西棉花生產商敦促政府劃撥8億雷亞爾（約3.72億美元）的補貼來支持棉花價格，一名官員說。
      種植者要求農業部確保他們每阿羅瓦獲得44.6的補貼，或每磅1.35雷亞爾，塞爾吉奧 德 馬爾科說，他是包括種植者和政府官員的巴西棉花協會的主席。他說，補貼將覆蓋約65%的巴西棉花的總產量。
      棉花種植者請求協助，因為棉花交易價格在大約1.17雷亞爾每磅，比政府收購的低價還低13%，低于生產成本， 德馬爾科今天在圣保羅接受電視采訪時說。
      “政府暗示他將幫助該部門，但我們仍然不知道它會提供多少，”德馬爾科與農業部部長Reinhold Stephanes一起出席一項活動時說 。
      巴西棉花種植者今年削減了百分之二十一的數量面積，如果棉價進一步下跌并且政府不干預的話，棉商有可能進一步降低種植面積，Haroldo Cunha，巴西棉花協會主席說。
      “棉花種植者現在改種大豆以尋求更高的收益， ”庫尼亞說在圣保羅接受電話采訪時說。
      德馬爾科預計政府從5月開始將為棉花種植者舉行三次大拍賣。巴西是第五大棉花生產國和第四大棉花出口國。