TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE OF MISIONES (ARGENTINA): ANALYSIS IN HISTORICAL-ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article analyzes the changes and permanence in the productive structure of Misiones (Argentina) from an interdisciplinary approach. The methodology used is qualitative and descriptive, analyzing primary and secondary sources and interviews with key actors in the phenomenon studied. Along these lines, it was possible to recognize the constitutive stages of the agrarian structure of Misiones, linked firstly to the extractivist activity of yerba mate (second half of the 19th century); with the beginning of the colonizing process towards the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, the extractive economy gave rise to a productive one based on the development of agrarian activities with a strong centrality in the cultivation of yerba mate. Finally, starting in the 1970s, it is possible to identify the consolidation of the forestry sector within the rural areas of Misiones. The results showed that in recent decades, forestry activity had a profound impact on the agrarian structure of Misiones.