Agriculture and agro-industry in Argentina focus on the production of cereal, oil grains and seeds, sugar, fruit, wine, tea, tobacco, and cotton. Argentina is one of the greatest food-producing and food-exporting countries of the world, with an estimated 27,200,000 hectares (67,210,000 acres) of arable and permanent cropland. Agriculture and animal husbandry have traditionally supplied the nation with 70–95% of its export earnings, and the landowners have alternated the two activities in accordance with prices on the world market. As of 2001, agriculture made up 5% of the GDP. Agricultural products also accounted for 41% of exports by value. One of the most important factors in Argentine agriculture is the advanced degree of mechanization; in 1998, an estimated 280,000 tractors and 50,000 harvester-threshers were in use.
The principal agricultural region consists of the humid pampas, one of the world's greatest reaches of arable land. Argentine agriculture is virtually coextensive with this region, although efforts have been made to spread it into other areas. Citrus fruit, tobacco, cotton, and sugarcane are cultivated outside the pampas.
Wheat is the leading crop. Argentina accounted for about 75% of all wheat produced in South America in 1999 and was the world's fifth-leading wheat exporter. The area harvested in 1999 was estimated at 5.8 million hectares (14.3 million acres), and production at 14.5 million tons. Argentina is the fourth-largest corn-growing country in the world. The area harvested in 1999 was 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres), and production was 13.2 million tons. Barley is favored as the grain of greatest yield and resistance to disease; types for feed and beer are grown in the pampas areas having soil unfavorable or a climate too rigorous for wheat. Harvests once amounted to 659,000 tons per season in the early 1970s, but in 1999 production was 400,000 tons.
Rice is a major crop, with a 1999 production of 1,576,000 tons on plantings of 281,000 hectares (694,000 acres). Argentina is one of the world's biggest producers of flaxseed (linseed); production in 1999 was 85,000 tons, down more than 80% from the early 1990s. Most of the crop is exported in the form of linseed oil. The province of Tucumán dominates the sugar-raising industry, which dates from 1646; sugarcane production in 1999 was 19.4 million tons. To control overproduction, the government formed the National Sugar Co. in 1970 and forbade the construction of new sugar mills through the end of the decade.
Cotton growing dates from 1909 and is concentrated in Chaco Province. In 1999 the production of cotton fiber was 227,000 tons, down from 432,000 tons in 1996. Sunflower seed oil is a major industrial plant product; 3.8 million hectares (9.6 million acres) of sunflowers were harvested in 1999, producing 6,500,000 tons of sunflower seeds. Tobacco is raised in several northern provinces, especially Misiones; production in 1999 was an estimated 113,000 tons. Soybean production, only 78,000 tons in 1971–72, increased to 7.1 million tons by 1985–86, and to 18 million tons in 1999.
Fruit growing has developed rapidly since the 1940s. Estimates for 1999 fruit production (in tons) were apples, 1,056,000; oranges, 780,000; lemons and limes, 1,050,000; peaches and nectarines, 250,000; and grapefruit, 230,000. The output of bananas was 400,000 tons in 1974, 10 times the 1961–65 average; it fell to 144,000 tons in 1978 and rebounded to 280,000 tons in 1992 before declining to 175,000 tons in 1999.
The province of Mendoza is the center for the nation's vineyards. In 1999, grape production was 2.5 million tons. Argentina is one of the world's leading producers of wine, accounting for 1.26 million tons in 1999, or 4.5% of the world's total production.Argentine agriculture is relatively capital intensive, today providing about 7% of all employment and, even during its period of dominance around 1900, accounting for no more than a third of all labor. Having accounted for 20% of GDP as late as 1959, it adds, directly, less than 10% today;[1] however, agricultural goods, whether raw or processed, still earn over half of Argentina's foreign exchange and, arguably, remain an indispensable pillar of the country's social progress and economic prosperity.
These developments were accompanied by a wave of European immigration and investments in education and infrastructure, all of which nearly reinvented Argentine society. Agricultural development, in turn, led to the first meaningful industrial growth, which, during the 1920s, was mainly centered around food processing and increasingly involved U.S. capital. Agricultural exports provided the Argentine Treasury with generous surpluses during both World Wars and helped finance a boom in machinery and consumer goods imports between the wars and after 1945. The creation of a single grain purchaser (the IAPI) by Pres. Juan Perón produced mixed results, often shortchanging growers even as it benefited them with investments in infrastructure, machinery and pest control. Policies friendly to industrial investment during the Arturo Frondizi's tenure led to the establishment of FIAT and John Deere farm machinery makers locally, spurring further modernization, as did accelerated rural roadbuilding and electrification programs during the 1960s. Cost-cutting measures by the Juan Carlos Onganía regime led to the closure of 11 large sugar mills in 1966, however, even as agriculture generally continued to grow.
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Sunflowers |
Domestic austerity policies pursued by the last dictatorship and Raúl Alfonsín's government led to record trade surpluses during much of the 1976-90 era, led by agricultural exports and, notably, the sudden boom in soybean cultivation, which displaced sunflower seeds as the leading oilseed crop in 1977. A severe shortage of domestic credit hampered the sector somewhat, however, as growing harvests soon outstripped transport and storage capacity.
A tie of the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar implemented by economist Domingo Cavallo in 1991 reduced export competitiveness somewhat, though the resulting stability led to record investments in agricultural infrastructure and led to strong growth in harvests during the late 1990s. These trends were accompanied by the federal approval of GMO crops in 1995. A devaluation of the peso in 2002 and a sustained rise in commodity prices since has further encouraged the sector, leading to record production and exports, helping finance record public works spending through export tariffs, a centerpiece ofNéstor and Cristina Kirchner's economic policies. These, inturn, became a point of contention when President Cristina Kirchner advanced a hike in export tariffs, leading to the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector; the tariff increase was defeated in the Senate when Vice PresidentJulio Cobos cast an unexpected, tie-breakig vote against the measure.
Production per commodity
All data refers to 2004 information by the FAO and by 2007 data from the Argentine Ministry of the Economy. Around 10% of the country is cultivated, while about half of it is used for cattle, sheep and other livestock.
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Wheat |
Cereals
One of the main exports of the country are cereals, centered around corn, wheat and sorghum, with rice and barley produced mainly for national consumption. With a total area of around 210.000 km², the annual production of cereals is around 50 million tonnes.
Oilseeds
Oilseeds became important as their international price rose during the late 20th century. Of the approximately 52 million tonnes produced annually, around 92% are soybeans and 7% are sunflower seeds. The total cultivated area for oilseeds is around 41.000 km².
Oilseed farming in Argentina has been prominent from the early 20th century, when the country was the world's primary exporter of flax (linseed). The collapse of that market in the 1930s and the crop's soil denuding qualities, however, ended its dominance within the sector.
Meats
Beef and other meats are some of the most important agricultural export products of Argentina. Nearly 5 million tonnes of meats (not including seafood) are produced in Argentina, long the world's leading beef consumer on a per capita basis. Beef accounts for 3.2 million tonnes (not counting 500.000 tonnes of edible offal). Then, following in importance: chicken, with 1.2 million tonnes; pork, with 265,000 and mutton (including goat meat), over 100,000. Cattle is mainly raised in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe.
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Grapes |
Fruit
Grapes (mostly for the wine harvest), together with lemons, apples and pears are the most important fruit harvests, produced mainly in the Río Negrovalleys of Río Negro Province and Neuquén Province, as well as Mendoza Province. Other important crops include peaches and other citruses. With an area of around 6.000 km², the fruit production is around 8 million annual tonnes.
Sugar cane
The cultivation of sugar cane and its derivates over an area of 3.000 km², mainly in the Tucumán Province, yields around 19 million tonnes annually. There are also sugar-cane factories (ingenios azucareros) for the production of sugar and cellulose.
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Cotton crop |
Cotton
In 2007 on 393,000, 174,000 net tons of cotton was produced of which 7,000 tons was exported. The main production area is Chaco Province and, though the crop is being replaced in many areas with soybeans due to production costs, production has more than doubled since the 2002 low.
Dairy
Milk production is of around 10 billion annual liters and eggs, about 650 million dozen. Their production, as well as that of related dairy industries (half a million tons of cheese, particularly), was favored by the 2002 devaluation of the Argentine peso, as this placed production costs well below the international price. This increased milk and dairy product exports; but has also raised their local prices.
Vegetables
Vegetables, mainly potatoes, onions and tomatoes, are cultivated all over the country, almost exclusively for the domestic market. Other important products include sweetpotato, pumpkins, carrots,beans, peppers and garlic. An approximate area of 3.000 km² produces over five million tonnes of vegetable every year.
Fish and seafood
Fish and other sea foods are less important to the export economy, and are not widely consumed by Argentines. Most of the 900.000 tonnes fished is frozen and exported. The most important product is hake (merlucciidae), followed by Cephalopod (squid) and other molluscs and Crustaceans.
Carlos Alfredo Torres Duran C.I. 17.467.916
Electronica en Estado Solido
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Argentina-AGRICULTURE.html
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