Entre devastação e desenvolvimento: Como o capital estrangeiro influenciou o processo de modernização agrícola do cerrado brasileiro

Abstract

This study analyzes the role of foreign capital in the agricultural modernization of the Brazilian Cerrado, highlighting how international investments influenced structural transformations in rural areas during the military regime. The research aims to understand how this capital shaped productive, technological, and landowning dynamics in the region within the context of the Green Revolution. A qualitative methodology was adopted, combining bibliographic review and document analysis of official sources, complemented by statistical data from IBGE, EMBRAPA, and the World Bank. The findings show that agricultural modernization in the Cerrado occurred in a non-organic manner, driven by programs such as POLOCENTRO and PRODECER, which enabled the expansion of the agricultural frontier by occupying lands previously considered unproductive. This transformation required the intensive use of modified seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery, fostering the integration of the agricultural and industrial sectors under the control of multinational corporations. The study concludes that foreign capital played a central role in the formation of Brazil’s agro-industrial complex, compromising rural autonomy. While productivity increased, the process also led to severe environmental degradation, land concentration, and the deepening of rural inequalities. Therefore, modernization was not a neutral or merely technical endeavor, but rather a strategy for capital domination over nature and the agrarian structure, resulting in an exclusionary and environmentally harmful development model.