Growth and modernization of Paraná State’s Agricultural and cattle raising sector in the period of 1970 to 2004

Abstract

The main objective of this work has been to analyze the growth of Paraná State’s agricultural and cattle raising sector in the period from 1970 to 2004, by establishing its relationship with the economic policies adopted by the government during the period. To reach this objective, a bibliographical research was carried out on the modernization of agriculture, and the technological innovations that took place in the agricultural and cattle raising sector, and their influence on the sector’s structural transformations and on productivity gains. Besides that, land productivity indicators were elaborated for: the main products linked to the foreign and domestic markets; geometric growth rates in productivity; quantities produced; and harvested areas. Census indicators were also elaborated for the main production factors used in the agricultural and cattle raising sector (land, labor, tractors and fertilizers). The results of this research demonstrate that Paraná State has been inserted in the technological modernization process, and this was the factor that enabled the good performance of the sector in the periods of lesser governmental incentives (in the 1980’s), and of greater international competition (post-1990). Furthermore, it was observed that between 1970 and 1980, the products destined to export were more dynamic than those for the domestic market; however, between 1988 and 2004 this picture changed in Brazil and in Paraná, with products aimed at the domestic market presenting growth rates higher than products for export.