Sudowest Goiano Expansion and Agricultural Contracts as Strategic Instruments for Access to Land

Abstract

The state of Goiás stands out in the country's agricultural commodities export agenda. Thus, soy, corn and sorghum are evident in the state's agricultural production. However, it is observed that the monoculture of sugarcane has been occupying more and more the productive space, especially in the southwest region. Its insertion in agribusiness gained greater visibility from 2007, when it came to occupy the first place in the production ranking of the state of Goiás and the Midwest. Natural factors in the region, incentive policies and environmental issues played fundamental and determining roles in its increase. The road infrastructure also contributed significantly to the establishment of sugarcane mills and plantations in strategic locations for the logistics of production flow and for the reduction of transport costs. However, as most of the arable areas in the southwest of Goiás are already heavily occupied by the cultivation of soybeans and, in the off-season, corn, the cultivation of sugarcane advances to these areas and also to pasture. The logic of the system is evident, the areas already cultivated provide the reduction of production costs, being able to maximize the capital of the sugar and alcohol agroindustries. It is in this context that disputes between economic agents in the field of power arise. In this way, contractual law can serve both as an instrument for acquiring land and for controlling it. Therefore, the objectives of the research are presented: to analyze contractual instruments, specifically, contracts celebrated by the sugar and alcohol agribusinesses and rural producers and the possible conflicts arising from these relationships. The methodological approach is based on quantitative and qualitative assumptions, as a means of enabling a more holistic understanding of the object of study. Regarding the techniques, the research prioritized, mainly, the bibliographic and documentary, and the main sources of secondary data collection were databases of public and private institutions. The elementary sources for the analysis were contractual instruments of agricultural partnership signed between agro-industries, rural producers and landowners. As a consequence of the study, it was observed that the partnership contract, object of analysis, is configured as an instrument of access and maintenance of land tenure and that generally the grantor partner (land owner) has less negotiation power than the partner-granted (agribusiness), mainly due to the clauses provided. Thus, it was concluded that the agroindustry holds the power of information, which generates asymmetries in the contractual relationships established.