Políticas públicas e cotonicultura nos municípios da bacia do rio Vermelho no Estado de Mato Grosso no período de 1990 a 2014.

Abstract

In the scenario of the success of the agricultural development of Mato Grosso, cotton occupies a prominent place, since the late 1990s. A large part of the Mato Grosso cotton goes to the external market and accumulated the amount of US $ 5.7 billion in exports in the period from 1997 to 2014. Cotton cultivation is an activity of great socioeconomic relevance, but it can also cause a number of negative impacts on the environment. Cotton is naturally very susceptible to pest and insect attack and one of the crops that most exposes soil to erosion. The Southeast region of the state of Mato Grosso was a forerunner in cotton production in the 1960s and came back to occupy prominence from the end of the decade of 1990. State policies developed actions focused on agricultural activities since the 1970s. More recently state governments created specific programs for cultivation of cotton. The objective of this research was to verify the effects of the public economic policies that stimulated the cotton culture in the municipalities of Alto Garças, Guiratinga, Itiquira, Pedra Preta, Poxoréo, Rondonópolis e São José do Povo, located in plateau region of the red river watershed in the state of Mato Grosso from 1990 to 2014. The aim was to analyze the evolution of cotton culture and the environmental and socioeconomic effects. The present research, located in the field of studies of land use change, used the method hypothetical-deductive. This research used exploratory, descriptive, quantitative, qualitative and documentary research procedures. The research showed the effects of stimulating cotton culture growth by the PROALMAT policy, in conjunction with other economic policy instruments, notably the Kandir Law. It has demonstrated the dominant character of temporary crop production on permanent crops, soy as the dominant commodity in land use by temporary crops, the cotton crop with the most significant growth among the most planted crops. The analysis of the spatial and temporal contexts showed that the evolution of the area planted with cotton occurred in a different way in the municipalities. Pedra Preta and Itiquira were the municipalities with the largest areas planted in the period studied. The research identified four large peak years in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2011 as large swings in planted area, motivated by the integration of prices and markets in the national and international scenarios and its preponderance in the decision making for the expansion of the planted area in the municipalities. The PROALMAT policy did not achieve the objective of raising more taxes by the initial stimulus of the expansion of production in the studied period. ICMS taxes revenues registered great values renounced by the state, especially in the peak years of production. The necessary amount of cost inputs accumulated huge amounts, especially fertilizers and agrochemicals in the period.