Model of Agribusiness and Land-Water Grabbing in the Oases of Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

The margins of the oases of the Mendoza province have acquired in the last two decades special relevance as a focus of investment of the so-called “agribusiness model.”  The latter has been the protagonist of a real conquest in peripheral areas of the oasis, expanding the agricultural frontier based on the acquisition of land selected for its edaphic characteristics, the exploitation of groundwater, and the application of modern irrigation systems. Starting with the so-called new vitiviniculture –characterized by the production of high-quality wine destined for export–this dynamic was also evident in other fruit or horticultural sectors.

In this article, from a vertical and multidimensional perspective, we analyze the processes that enable control over certain rural spaces and their water resources by agribusiness corporations located on the margins of the Uco Valley oasis. We argue that a singular logic of production-consumption underlies these grabbing processes. Firstly, we argue that this logic works in several practices of precision agriculture, and we will give an account of the relationship between the expanding of peripheral lands for agro-productive purposes, the implementation of technologies to irrigate and put them into production, and the targeted markets. We will focus more specifically on vitivinicultural projects and agro-industrial potatoes production. Secondly, we argue that this logic also operates in relation to the growing conversion of new productive rural spaces into enclaves of tourist and real estate consumption, related to viticulture.