Agro-export activity and its relationship with the urban growth of the Ica valley – Peru

Abstract

The actors of the agro-export activity in the study area are basically small farmers on one side and medium and large farmers on the other hand, the latter strongly linked to the agro-export activity. Land and water are two precious resources for the support of agro-export activity, there is currently a trend in the world for the concentration of these precious resources and in the case of the Ica Valley this trend is no exception.

The objective of the communication of this research work is to know the type of relationship that exists between the agro-export activity and the rural and urban growth of the Ica Valley.

The methodology used for this research is non-experimental and descriptive, which consists of collecting official statistical data which are analyzed in a comparative and evolutionary way, that is, over time in two contexts the national and more specifically in the study area.

The data used are the statistical data of the last three National Farmers Censuses, from which the trend on land ownership, production and export of agricultural products is analyzed; On the other hand, to analyze the evolution of the agricultural and urban extension of the Ica Valley for this, its use the Population and Housing Census is used, in addition to satellite photos taken at different time periods to produce an analysis of the studied territory and then make the correlation with the agro-export activity.

Preliminary results show that there is a direct relationship with the appearance of the new rural and urban settlements in the valley that are directly related to the predominant economic activities in the Ica Valley, causing the city to grow precariously in areas of the peripheries of the city without an orderly planning. This demonstrates the existence of a new dynamics of land ownership where the existence of the concentration of land for agro-industrial purposes by large agricultural producers at the expense of small producers is confirmed. It is also confirmed that there is a constant growth of new agricultural lands destined for the exporting agro-industrial sector, formerly eriazas lands and that at present have been won to the desert through an over exploitation of fossil aquifer resources, causing without a doubt several environmental problems in this territory.

Peru has experienced a great dynamic on the land market, as a result of the country's new economic policies. Policies aimed at the liberalization of markets and the promotion of private investment. And the current Peruvian agro-exporter Boom would consequently have its origin in changing the laws that regulate land ownership.

The predominant activities in a territory predetermine and shape the new urban settlements, their appearance without planning represents future urban risks such as precarious growth without basic services and commonly settling in high-risk areas in the face of natural phenomena that are increasingly frequent and violent in a context of climate change how in a Peruvian territory.

This research work opens the way to the study of the concentration of precious resources such as agricultural land and water. Studies that must have a sustainable development approach which takes into account the environmental, economic and social variable. In what corresponds to the environment we can infer that the concentration of land by large agricultural producers has a negative impact on the territory and its inhabitants, and this is mainly due to production methods that are not respectful of the natural environment, to overexploitation of groundwater, degradation and contamination of the soil due to the intensive use of chemicals such as pesticides.