A face espúria de um grão dourado: impactos socioambientais da expansão da soja em Jaguarão, RS

Abstract

This research aims to analyze and comprehend the socio-environmental impacts caused by the soybean monoculture expansion process in Jaguarão, RS, which is a town in the extreme south of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on the border with the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, where family farming is a traditional activity. The last eight years coincided with an expansion of the cultivation of this oilseed, which now reaches an area of 111197 acres, located inside the Pampa Biome. This is an ongoing research that is based on literature review, secondary data and unsystematic observation. The contact with reality detects an expressive increase in the use of agrochemicals, as well as the intensive mechanization of the areas that are taken over by entrepreneurs from the north of Rio Grande do Sul through lease agreements. However, one of the most emblematic changes has to do with alterations in the living conditions of the people. When they give up their land for rent, the owners and their families abandon livestock farming, cease to reside in rural areas and begin to live on land rents. One of the direct impacts is the decrease of the herds of the town. Some accounts report dissatisfaction with the intensive use of agrochemicals. The case in question reveals the nuances of the harmful effects of the process of commodification of agriculture translated into what has come to be called 'soyzation' of rural spaces.