Chapadão do Sul (MS): um espaço construído no contexto da soja

Abstract

The Brazilian woodsy pastures areas, from the 1970 decade on, went through a significant change concerning the land use with the introduction of soya-bean. To make this culture planting happen, two factors were important: the public policies and the projects established by the Estate to promote economical development in these areas. Thus, the project for the agriculture modernization aroused by the Green Revolution was consolidated. The Middle- West region, which then was occupied by Southern settlers, is inserted in this context. In particular, in Mato Grosso do Sul, the first colonists settled down where it is today the city of Chapadão do Sul, in the final of the 1970 decade. A new social and spacial configuration was delineated in this region. Therefore, the changes in the productive system that took place with the introduction of the agricultural modernization caused economical, social, environmental and cultural changes in the city. We can notice the replacement of the natural economy by agricultural activities integrated to industry, which gave birth to a new division of work and a constant search for the specialization of products due to the changes in the technical basis of production. For all this, the present study aimed to know the modernization process and the agricultural development established in Chapadão do Sul-MS, from the 1980 decade on, evaluating the changes occurred.