Historia del capitalismo agrario pampeano

Cereal agriculture in the Argentine pampas experienced a very slow rate of growth during the first half of the nineteenth century, in particular when compared to the expansion of cattle ranching in the area. However, during those years the agricultural sector underwent changes that created the preconditions for its impressive expansion during the second half of the nineteenth century. In this fine study, Julio Djenderedjian traces the agricultural development of wheat in Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, and Córdoba between the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. The subject is significant, and the book makes a valuable contribution toward rounding out the historical picture of the pampean region. It is divided into six chapters that can be read as self-contained units or as part of the larger narrative. The main themes addressed are colonial and postcolonial cereal production, the evolution of wheat agriculture’s technology from the late eighteenth century to the 1850s, and early colo-nization attempts in the pampas. There is a wealth of information in the text and some repetition, although most of it is effective. The author has merged research in a wide array of quantitative and qualitative sources with important references to the secondary literature, thus providing a good synthesis of the old and the new that will be appealing to both expert and inexpert readers. Two appendices provide valuable information that complements the data included in pertinent tables and graphs throughout the book.During the first half of the nineteenth century, Argentina relied on imported cereals to supply the demands of its domestic market. In order to identify the reasons that accounted for the slow growth of the agricultural sector during those years, the study traces the evolution of cereal agriculture and its commercialization from the late colonial years until the 1850s. Political instability, difficulties to access labor and capital, price instability, and competition from foreign wheat explain producers’ choice of cattle ranching over agriculture. This situation started to change during the 1840s, when a decline in the level of political conflict, the emergence of new markets, and higher prices created more favorable conditions for the slow expansion of wheat agriculture in the region. The period witnessed the adoption of new agricultural technology as well. Djendered-jian examines exhaustively the introduction of new tools, machinery, and seeds as well as attempts to spread and systematize innovations through manuals and publications. Changes in agricultural methods took place in direct response to the incorporation into cereal agriculture of new lands that were located farther away from coastal markets and presented different soil requirements. Initially, agricultural producers were slow to adapt old techniques to the requirements of these new areas. During the 1840s the process of innovation hastened, thus creating more appropriate conditions for the developments that took place in the second half of the nineteenth century.The analysis of early colonization attempts in the region constitutes another remarkable part of this study. Djenderedjian focuses on the different strategies implemented by both colonial and independent authorities to populate the region. While geopolitical needs guided the establishment of towns in frontier areas during colonial times, provincial authorities promoted colonization as a means to reorganize the space along more rational lines during the decades that followed independence. Despite their failure, these early efforts paved the way for the agricultural colonies created during the second half of the nineteenth century. The last chapter shifts the focus from a regional approach to a comparative analysis of wheat agriculture in Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, and Córdoba. The chapter provides a valuable, albeit short and slightly unbalanced analysis that identifies the peculiarities of wheat agriculture in the four provinces examined. The case-by-case overview uncovers the importance of local circumstances and the heterogeneity that characterized wheat production in the region.Argentine cereal expansion during the last decades of the 1800s resulted from processes that took shape gradually and progressively during the first half of the century. In this book, Julio Djenderedjian has done a superb job by examining both the challenges facing wheat agriculture and the changes experienced by the sector until the 1850s. This reviewer misses a deeper analysis of the actors themselves and the agricultural society that took shape as a result of the processes analyzed in the book. In any case, this insightful study sheds light on the preconditions that enabled the impressive growth of pampean agriculture, and represents a valuable addition to the scholarship on Argentine economic development

Agriculture · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Economic history · Geography · Humanities · Library science · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Subject (documents) · Argentine historical studies · History · History and Politics in Latin America

• Professores ou agrônomos? Disputas em torno aos agentes estatais para o desenvolvimento agrícola na província de Entre Ríos (Argentina, 1906-1907)

  Open Access•Janet Priscila Cian•Cadernos de História da Educação•2020

  Add to list