SPATIAL TRENDS IN DIFFUSION EMPLOYEES IN PAULISTA AGRICULTURE, FROM 1940

Abstract

In the last two decades, interest in Geography has grown in studies on the spatial diffusion of innovations, particularly innovations in agricultural nature. The diffusion problem has been posed, by the geographer, within the scope of two fundamental categories of questions; a) the "how" a particular innovation spread in space, in certain periods of time; b) p "why" of the innovation adoption and expansion process. The answer to the first category of questions is commonly found from the description and analysis of the patterns of diffusion, printing in the landscape, and of the general trends and direction of the patterns over time. The second category of questions involves answers of greater scientific complexity, because it seeks to identify the possible responsible and guiding factors in the diffusion in space-time of a considered innovation. The objective of this work is to verify how the spatial diffusion of tractors used in agriculture behaves, during the period from 1940 to 1970, and to denounce some of the factors responsible for the expansion of this important item of modernization of agricultural activity.