Território, Estado e política de irrigação: uma leitura a partir das técnicas, normas e configurações espaciais no Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

The process of expansion of typically capitalist agriculture in the Brazilian countryside is summarily marked by actions engendered by the state, which have as their central axes credit policies, the stimulation of the adoption of technological packages, the delimitation and consolidation of areas specialized in commodity production, aiming at Brazil's increasing insertion in the international division of labor. Among the policies anchored in these guidelines, the Política Nacional de Irrigação (1979) should be highlighted, which had as one of its main developments the installation of public irrigation projects (irrigated perimeters), which constituted one of the main mechanisms for Northeast in the hall of modern agricultural activities, especially from the production of irrigated fruits. Based on these assumptions, this thesis aims to understand how in the current historical period the materialities and actions associated with the creation and dynamics of irrigated perimeters have been constituted as a (re) defining element in the agricultural uses of the potiguar territory. From the theoretical point of view the reflections undertaken here are aligned with the conceptual system proposed in Milton Santos' work, especially with the concepts of space, technique and norms, these imbricated the notion of used territory. Regarding the methodology used for the construction of this work, it is worth mentioning the effort to build matrices of events and norms associated with the reality under analysis, despite the elaboration of cartographic products through which the location of water engineering systems is presented and if spatializes the use of irrigation techniques. The field work carried out in the five existing irrigated perimeters in the state is also an important methodological strategy, because through this it was possible to observe the particularities and similarities between the different irrigation projects, although all result from the same policy. The reflections undertaken show that the use of irrigation systems has a punctual nature and selective character, attributes that become more acute as a result of irrigated agriculture being a densely standardized activity. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the implementation of public irrigation projects was able to produce fractions of the territory with structural similarities and distinctions as to the forms of appropriation and use of it, since the irrigated perimeters created in the 1970s, although dynamic and economically important. For the municipalities, today they are eminently used as shelter, being the place of residence, work and socialization of the families of DNOCS land settlers who, even with the irrigation disuse, remained in the plots and areas corresponding to the perimeters. In the Distrito Irrigado do Baixo-Açu, it is verified that the use of the territory is actually given as a resource, given the production and market logic that characterizes it, even though its production is basically intended to supply the local and regional market.