PLURIATIVIDADE NO CONTEXTO DA REGIÃO METROPOLITANA DE CURITIBA-PR

Abstract

The Green Revolution accumulated two disenchantments: one was that it did not foresee that besides production, distribution of this wealth was necessary. The second was that the production technology, in developing countries, could not be paid off, and that poverty still persists. It became a consensus that the agricultural improvement did not lead to rural development. This can be observed by land concentration, incomes and salaries. On the other hand, the rural area is receiving new functions and occupations, and it can not be seen just as a place for agricultural production, source of mineral goods, or cheap labor. Besides quality food production, the rural areas can offer other alternatives as leisure, tourism and jobs. To define this multitude of activities, the term pluri-activity was coined. This term takes as units of analysis, family and non agricultural income generation. In Curitiba Metropolitan rural areas these other sources of activities are becoming part in the solution of a great challenge: the source of food supply for about 2.5 million inhabitants, natural resource degradation caused by this agricultural exploration and the search for rural development. The present study, in the Curitiba Metropolitan Area, also showed still other bottlenecks: abnormally high growth rate in some of their municipal districts generating conflicts by space occupation, degradation of water resources by pesticides and fertilizers, soil erosion, organic residues accumulation and still the struggle for water usage. In spite of keeping the water reservoirs integrity, the present water sources should be exhausted within a 25 year span. Besides discussing the above mentioned trouble related aspects, the present study also intended to link the formation of a general agricultural professional with his integration to the new reality of the Curitiba Metropolitan Area.