Agricultural styles: a perspective to analysis of diversity of small farm agriculture

Abstract

In this paper we intend to analyze the diversity of small farm agriculture of three regions from the economic geography of the state of Rio Grande do Sul through the theoretical-methodological perspective of agricultural styles. The perspective allows an analysis of the diversification (of practices and strategies) as well as the diversity (as an empiric phenomenon) of the household agricultural practices. The methodological proposition showed to be essentially important to reinforce the analytical perspective of “agricultural styles”, contributing in the creation of new criteria to analyze the social categories which exist in the rural area and its strategies of social reproduction, supporting the current public policy to the perception and analysis of agrarian realities. Key words: agricultural styles; typology; factorial analysis. Classificação JEL: Q12. Artigo recebido em jan. 2009 e aceito para publicação em nov. 2009.