To be or not to be? a diachronic analysis of the relationship between family farming and soybean production

Abstract

Soybean production has great importance in the national scenario and in Rio Grande do Sul, being present in part of the family farming establishments. The commodification process has intensified the presence of food empires and the subordination of farmers to their logic, promoting a process of concentration and exclusion in the countryside, resulting in the differentiation of farmers. This longitudinal study aims to analyze changes in the profile of soybean production and identify the differentiation of family farmers in relation to their cultivation in the municipality of Salvador das Missões (Rio Grande do Sul - Brasil). For this, a case study was carried out, with primary data obtained, in 2003 and 2018, with the same families. Data were analyzed by comparing panels and families categorized according to the different paths taken over time. The deactivation of soybean production by most families was observed, in parallel with the concentration of land, capital and production in a smaller group of farmers. Four family trajectories were identified, namely: discontinuity of soybean production; increase in cultivated area; continuity of cultivation in small areas; absence of soy cultivation.