The field modernization process corresponds to the implementation of new technologies and machinery in the production process in rural areas. This means that the evolution of techniques and of the technical objects provokes a transformation in terms of geographic space agricultural. It is clear that since the constitution of agriculture, man has been gradually developing new tools and more advanced procedures, but when we talk about modernization, we talk about a recent process that has impacted Large scale.
Historically, the mechanization of the countryside was seen as a direct consequence of industrial revolutions, as they provided an advance in the means of production, reaching the agrarian environment. It was throughout the 20th century that such transformations occurred more intensely, provided both by the development of machinery and new techniques for handling cultivation goods, many of them linked to Green Revolution.
One of the main advantages of the field modernization process was the significant increase in productivity, including the generation and distribution of food around the world, which contradicted pessimistic perspectives that believed that population growth would surpass the availability of resources. Another positive point was the lesser need to use pesticides in crops due to the genetic improvement of the plants, although they are still used on a large scale.
Among the negative points of the process of mechanization in the countryside – or the criticisms generally directed towards such an occurrence – the structural unemployment generated among rural workers stands out. There was a significant substitution of man for machine in cropping systems, which intensified the practice of rural exodus, although agricultural modernization was not the only one responsible for this process.
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There are also criticisms directed at genetic transformations of plants, another facet of agrarian modernization. Many segments of society view the production of transgenic food skeptically or, in some cases, the excessive use of chemical products, such as pesticides and pesticides in general. Such criticisms have even increased the visibility of family farming practices, which are generally less mechanized, and, mainly, from organic agriculture, whose principle is the minimum use of chemical products in the process. productive.
Finally, the increase in cultivated areas, with the consequent advance on the natural environment, stands out as a disadvantage of the modernization of the field. In Brazil, the advance of the agricultural or agricultural frontier provided the advance of geographical space over areas natural, causing the reduction of the original environment of several vegetation groups, notably the Cerrado and the Forest Atlantic.
Although there are problems and criticisms, the process of mechanization and modernization of agricultural activities was an important way to produce more and better in rural areas. Brazil, for example, is today a great agricultural power, being the world's largest producer of coffee, sugarcane, oranges and others, in addition to being one of the largest exporters of soy.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Effects of field modernization"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/efeitos-modernizacao-campo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
