Agricultural frontier of western Bahia: considerations about temporal, social and environmental aspects

Abstract

The western Bahia State, Brazil, represents a typical region of the Cerrado in terms of high-yield, heavily mechanized grain production. This study presents some considerations about the temporal, social, and environmental aspects of the land occupation in this region. It was based on data derived from satellite images, published and unpublished reports prepared by governmental agencies, and interviews with producers, local community and government officials. In the period of 1985-2005, there was an increase of 352% in areas planted with crops. The introduction of modern agriculture did not minimize the social unequality that was already present before, since the grain production has been controlled by transnational companies, without the relevant participation of local community. In exchange, the recent use of environmentally sustainable techniques of soil and water management by most of the producers has reduced the environmental impacts in this region. These are the cases of the use of no-tillage system to reduce soil, water, and nutrient losses and to increase the grain produtictivity as well as the use of tensiometry to reduce the water demand for coffee irrigation.