A construção do território no Perímetro Irrigado de São Gonçalo (PISG), Sousa, Paraíba.

Abstract

With the elaboration of public projects developed by the Federal Government, the Northeast can obtain ways to mitigate the problems caused by drought in the Brazilian semiarid region.One of these projects was the construction of irrigated perimeters, which not only aimed at minimizing such occurrences, but also at promoting the maximization of productivity; the removal of the possibility of discussing the agrarian reform policy; besides developing a differentiated agrarian/agricultural production structure, characterized by the modernization of agriculture. Under the inspection of the National Department of Works Against Droughts (DNOCS) the São Gonçalo Irrigated Perimeter (PISG) was built, located in the municipalities of SousaPB and Marizópolis PB, whose infrastructure was increased by the construction of the São Gonçalo dam, a project inserted in the logic of capitalist agriculture, focused on the execution of irrigated agriculture, promotion of agribusiness. The PISG provided the region with new possibilities of living with the semiarid region, bringing together two indispensable goods for the development of the peasant way of life: land and water. The implementation of the PISG implied in the reconfiguration of the territory with changes in the economic dynamics in different scales, generating jobs, income and food production. Throughout the history of the implementation of the PISG, the State has been distanced by the perspective of encouraging the autonomy of the irrigating settlers and inducing the installation of the Minimal State with the consequent partial management of the State. Thus, based on the changes that are presented in the territory, we elected as a general objective to identify how the territory is built in PISG, regarding the continuities, discontinuities, possibilities and limits, how the organization of production and social reproduction occurs from elements identified at the beginning of its operation in 1973 and that are essential to the present day in the development of production. The methodology applied includes bibliographic research; structured and focused interviews; the use of the qualiquantitative method; systematic and field observation from March to April 2021. From this work, one can understand how part of the PISG territory is built, in which there have been significant transformations between the beginning of its implementation and the current moment. The results obtained demonstrate the participation of the State in the organization of projects based on the interests of capitalist agriculture, the incentive to private initiative, the fragility of those who live in the PISG, facing the conditions of administration of the perimeter by the absence of the State in the organization of infrastructure for the proper functioning of the perimeter.