Abstract

This article explores the transformations in forestry and agriculture that occurred in Chaco Salteño, in eastern Salta Province, Argentina, between 2000 and 2021. Implementing a quantitative method based on data collection and analysis made it evident that, during the last two decades, a rapid advance of the agricultural frontier for corporate agricultural and livestock production occurred. This advance resulted in the occupation of territories that, towards the end of the 20th century, were still considered marginal. Furthermore, to cause most changes in land use in the territory, deforestation increased in significant land areas; this allowed inferring that running capitalist agribusiness implied the destruction of a large part of the native forest. Consequently, the territory underwent important transformations due to a productivist model that triggered land concentration and a tendency to disarticulate family agriculture.

Keywords: deforestation; native forests; agricultural expansion; agribusiness; cattle raising