Monocultura e concentração da terra: efeitos da expansão da cana de-açúcar na estrutura fundiária do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil.

The impacts of expansion and technological changes on sugarcane plantations on the agricultural land structure in São Paulo state from 1975 to 2006 were studied. The Agricultural Census editions of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics were the main source of data, which were analyzed by non-conventional method. The expansion of sugarcane from 1996 to 2006 was accompanied by an increase in the participation of very large agricultural establishments and also the concentration of agricultural land ownership. The concentration of land ownership was less impacted, as entrepreneurs expanded their cane fields more by renting than by acquiring land. Among the main causes of sugarcane expansion were the strong vertical integration between sugar and ethanol factories and sugarcane plantations, not common in other activities that lost ground in São Paulo. In addition, the expansion of the mechanization of the sugarcane harvest made it difficult for small and medium suppliers to stay in sugarcane production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]