O impacto das políticas de crédito rural e de preços mínimos na agricultura brasileira

Abstract

Brazilian agriculture and the complex relations that involve the principal instruments of agricultural policy as well as the structural distortions encountered in this sector, justify the analysis developed, in view of the importance that national agricultural production assumes in the economic development of the country. The general objective of this study is that of evaluating the impact of minimum price and credit policies on the behavior of Brazilian agriculture, during the years 1970, 1975 and 1980. The data utilized were all derived from secondary sources, represented by the Agricultural Census of IBGE, by the Statistical Yearbooks and technical publications of the Production Finance Commission (CFP), The analysis is carried out at the level of Brasil, Gini coeficients were utilized to measure the level of concentration of landownership, rural credit, agricultural production value and rural labor utilization. With regard to the study of the degree of agricultural modernization, of production and of productivity of the in crops studied in 14 area strata, owing to the heterogeneity of the data and of the products, the analysis was restricted to the examination of tables. The results obtained allow one to conclude that the decade of the 19705 was characterized by an intensive incorporation of lands in large properties, increasing the degree of concentration of agrarian structure. In 1980, over half the agricultural establishments controlled individually less than 10 hectares of land and, in combination, only 2.41% of the total area in agriculture. The rural credit policy in force up to the and of the decade of the 1970s, concentrated resources upon large landowners, that constitue the category of producers that absorb the least labor. The tendency toward decline in the value of agricultural production of small establishments is directly associated with the reduction in area to these establisiments and the inadequacy of the minimum price policy for food crops, essentially exploited by small farmers. Irregardless of property and credit concentration, the establishments with area inferior to 100 hectares, are responsible in 1980 for more than 50,0% of national bean, corn, manioc, cotton and coffee production and are compatible with larger establishments in the production of wheat and soybeans. with respect to agricultural productivity, it can be said that, in general, small farmers are at least as efficient as the medium and large rural landowners,