Expansion of sugarcane cultivation: the crysis of São Fernando mill and territorial implications in the region of Dourados (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil)

Abstract

In this work, we analyze the expansion of sugarcane production in Mato Grosso do Sul, in an attempt to understand the territorial implications related to the operation of a sugarcane power plant in a municipality. The recent installation of numerous mills in Mato Grosso do Sul, accompanying a new expansion of the sugar-energy sector, brought both economic development and a certain social vulnerability in the municipalities involved in the production of sugarcane. Thus, we aim to understand the impact of the sugar-energy sector in a region, addressing the case of the installation and bankruptcy of the São Fernando plant in the city of Dourados, seeking to understand the impact on outsourced services, leased land, conflicts in indigenous lands and insecurity in hiring hand of the local population. They are considerations about the extreme concentration of sugarcane plantation in the municipalities of the south of the state, which only deepens the current situation of extreme specialization in production, defined by the production of commodities selected for export.