THE “DIASPORA” IN THE PAMPA OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL: (MULTI)TERRITORIALIZATION IN THE CONTROVERSIAL RISE OF TRANSGENIC SOYBEAN FARMING

Abstract

This article analyzes the configuration of the population dynamics of municipalities in the Pampa region of Rio Grande do Sul, the five largest territories dominated by the cultivation of transgenic soybeans in the state of Rio Grande do Sul: Tupanciretã, São Gabriel, Júlio de Castilhos, Cachoeira do Sul and Dom Pedrito. It verifies the occurrence of a controversial phenomenon of diaspora, of desertion of these municipalities, which contradicts the powerful narrative in force, which proclaims formidable success to the hegemonized areas. It compares the population dynamics of the five main soybean producers in the area of the state, with five others, with a similar population, but with industrial primacy. In the latter, the population is changing considerably. The paper also analyzes some of the conditioning factors for this phenomenon: land tenure structure, job and income generation, and quality of life indicators. There is land concentration and a reduction in the areas of food production of family farming, which results in rural exodus; lower job creation; worst human development indices and income distribution in municipalities with soybean primacy. Therefore, the relationship between the worst living conditions in the soybean-growing municipalities and the ongoing diaspora is notable.