Agronegócio e redes territoriais urbano-rurais: Plantio comercial de eucalipto por produtores neorrurais em Valença-RJ.

Abstract

During the last few years, Rio de Janeiro state has been a special place for the trying of expansion of eucalyptus commercial plantation, stimulated mostly by paper and cellulose and steel companies and by other wood requesting ones. This way, the aim of this research was to discuss the expansion of eucalyptus plantation for commercial ends in the city of Valença, which is located in Medio Paraíba region. That region is considered one of the most dynamic regions of the state because it has an important metal-mechanic pole, a great transport logistic and because it is between the most important metropolis (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) in Brazil (FUSCO, 2003; MARAFON, 2005). That region, despite of its strong urban-industrial character, has a state very significant cattle rising, specially related to milk, which is mostly developed in the city of Valença, our empiric research space limit, considering the ranges of Rio de Janeiro state (MADANÊLO, 2008). However, in the opposite direction of the tendencies of eucalyptus plantation expansion in other states, especially the ones which has limits with Rio de Janeiro (ES, SP and MG), we have observed in Valença an increasing of eucalyptus plantation which is not associated to the great urban-industrial enterprises, which are, the great paper and cellulose or steel companies. From this on, capitalized new-rural producers have been important social actors for the development of that form/content of expansion for the eucalyptus plantation, using the demand for wood from the companies in the region, the activities related to the urban space and also the local agro-business itself. Such social phenomenon in course, analyzed in our previous researches, seems singular to us up to this moment, specially related to previous researches in the range of Social Sciences. That is why we used numerous of theoretical references, articulating and using concepts – territory, net, urban-rural relation, agrobusiness – as guidelines for our interpretation.