1'1 I). E-190 Public Disclosure Authorized This report is not to be published nor may it be quoted as repre8enting~he Ba~1t· s views. Public Disclosure Authorized A~IUCULTURE IN PARAOUA Y ., Public Disclosure Authorized BY DOUWE GROENVELD Public Disclosure Authorized October Z5. 1951 TABlJI OF CONTENl'S Foreword SUMHARY i I. BASIC CONDITIONS 1 (a) Geography and Population (b) Land Tenure (c) The Soil (d) The Climate (e) The People (f) Capital Goods (g) Government Policy II. CURRENI' SITUATION 6 (a) Crops (b) Animals (c) Meat Production (d) Export and Inport (e) Cost of Production (f) Prices (g) Trade III. ASPECTS OF AGRICULTURAL POLICY 11 (a) Central Zone (b) lnunigration (c) Government Services (d) Processing Plants (e) Transnort (f) Forec~st Appendices: Suggestions as to agricultural policy. List of Literature. Map 1: Population Density. Map 2: Land use in Eastern Paraguay. Foreword A staff member of the Economic Department of l.B.R.D., who visited Paraguay in August 1951, prepared this report for the management of the Bank. For this reason it does not reflect the views or policies of the Directors or management of the Bank. The writer had an opportunity to visit most of the agriculturally important areas and insti­ tutions of the country, thanks to the courtesy of the Central Ban~ of Paraguay and the Servicio Teeniao lnteramericano de Cooperaeion Agricola. Washington, D.C. October, 1951. AGRICULTURE IN PARAGUAY STJM.tllARY Practically all of Paraguay's 100,000 odd farmers live in the eastern part of the country where they cultivate an area of 360,000 ha. Four-fifths of them are concentrated around Asuncion and the central railroad where they try to farm on worn-out, but basically good, soil. Two-thirds of these far­ mers have less than 7.5 ha. each, and most of them have no legal title to the land they occupy. Corn, manioc, cotton and sugar are their main crops~ Their equipment is scanty and obsolete and their technical training is very poor. Outside this Central Zone live the cattle ranchers, who own most of the stock of 3.4 million head of cattle which graze on extensive natural pastures. In these outer provinces one also finds a number of colonies popu­ lated either by farmers who moved out of the Central Zone, or by immigrants~ The three main agricultural problems in Paraguay are:- (1) The development of the Central Zone: this is mainly a question of providing vocational training and advice, combined with a suitable credit system, adequate distribution of tools, fertilizers and good seeds, the legal­ ization of land titles, and improvement of transport conditions~ (2) The rehabilitation of the cattle industry which is in a serious decline: a better price system a~d the provision of medicines, veterinary services, and barbed wire for fencing purposes, will improve the situation~ (3) The development of colonies in sparsely populated departments: this requires the adoption of an appropriate immigration policy and the pro­ vision of machinery for land clearing and cultivation, together vnth slutable loans. Funds must also be made available to bluld roads which would connect the colonies with their markets. Hare detailed reoommendations are given on Page 11. - i - I.. BASIC CONDITIONS (a) Geography and Population A clear distinction should be made between the part of Paraguay east oi'the River Paraguay and the western part, the Chaco.. This western part is very sparsely populated; cattle ranching and the collecting of quebracho are the main occupations. Since present loan negotiations are not concerned with the Chaco, this report will be limited to East Paraguay. In this area most of the people (60% of the total population) are con.,;. eentrated in a half citcle having a radius of 100 krn. Its center is in Asuncion. Of secondary importance is an area of 25 krn. extending on both sides of the 110 year old railroad from Asuncion to Encarnacion. Four-fifths of the rUral population lives in these two areas. The rest of East Paraguay is sparsely populated but is important as an area of prospective colonization (there are opportunities fot large numbers of emigrants from Europe) and of forestry. Paraguay has a total area of 40 million ha., of which 16 million ha. are located east of the Paraguay River. One-tenth of this eastern area is cultivated by about 100,000 farmers; in 1950/51 the distribution of the agri­ cultural land was believed to be as follows:- cultivated land (fruit included) 360,000 halo idle land 150,000 ha. pastures 700,000 ha. woodlands 400,000 ha. fnrf.lyo.rds 18,000 ha. other farmlands 30.000 ha. Land use in farms 1,658,000 ha. Two-thirds of the farms average less than 7.5 ha., of which only a few hectares are cultivated at a time. A rather l-lide variety of crops is grown. In the regions now being colonized farms are larger, ranging from 20 ha. to 70 ha. Of the remaining area, nearly 22 million ha. are forest (mainly in the eastern half of East Paraguay) and 16 million ha. are grass pampas (mainly in the Chaco and in the northern part of East Paraguay). (b) Land Tenure The land tenure situation is very confused as a result of the disas­ trous war of 1865-70 against Argentina, Brazil aDd Bolivia. Two-thirds of the farmers have no land titles at all and are classified as squatters, 12% rent their land and 22% own it by legal title. The Institute for Agrarian Reform is attempting to clarify this situation. - 2 - (c) The Soil The soils of Paraguay are now being surveyed by experts of the Ser­ vicio Tecnico Interamericano deCooperacion Agricola (STICA). A survey dis­ closes that most of the soils under cultivation are red sandy or clay lo~~s. Along the Parana river there are deep red soils derived from basalt and vol­ canic ash. These are the best soils in the country. In the Central Zone the land i~, broadly speaking, of fair to poor physical quality and has been worn out by century long primitive treatment. But if this land were well cultivated and fertilized, satisfactory crops could be grown. (d) Climate The climate in East Paraguay is of the sub-tropical continental type. The average maximum temperature in summer is 350 C; the average minimum temperature in winter is .100 C. December, January and February are very warm. Sudden changes in temperature are typical for the country. Precipitation is in general satisfactory; it ranges from 1800 mm. in the east to 1200 rom. near the Pl;U'aguay river and 600 mm. in the ';lest Chaco. Most of the rain falls in heavY showers of 25 mm. and more, suggesting the advisability of constructing water storage facilities in some regions. (e) The .People Recent data about the number of persons active in agriculture are not available. The only agricultural census ever taken in Paraguay was that of 1942/43 which shows that at that time there were 95,000 farm f&~ilies totaling 540,000 people, or 5.7 per farm. The number of people actually working on the farms was computed at 157,000 (including 9000 peons) which is 23% of the total population between 15 and 50 years old. The farmers of Paraguay, broadly speaking, can be divided into three groups:- 1. The ordinary farmer, whose family has lived for generations in Paraguay and who usually operates a mixed farm consisting of some hectares of arable land (manioc, corn, cotton and sugar cane being the most common crops), a smaller or larger acreage of grazing land and some waste land. These farmers have practi­ cally no knowledge of modern methods and are hardly ever in con­ tact with educational and advisory services. To bring them on a higher technical and social level is the most difficult pro­ blem in the field of agricultural development in Paraguay. 2. The cattle ranchers, of whom 2.5% own more than 2/3 1 s of the cattle in the country. This small group owns over 500 head of cattle each. A number of them are willing to learn modsrn veterinary and agricultural practices but they are hampered by the governmentls stringent price policy. 3. The colonists - uho either immigrated to Paraguay since It/orld War I, or moved out of the Central Zone. In general, they have larger farms than group (1) and at least the immi­ grants are better acquainted with modern methods. Moreover, they have more energy and initiati ve than the Paraguayans. As the colonies are often located in far away regions, trans­ port is their main problem. Large agricultural enterprises are rare in Paraguay. Even sucn pro­ ducts as cotton and sugar cane are grown mainly on small or medium sized farms. This indicates that there will be little need for full scale mechan­ ization in this country; heavy machinery will be (at least for the time being) useful only for clearing new land. It would be best to operate them on a pool basis, with groups of farmers sharing the equipment. There is, however, a great need for good small tools and animal drawn implements, and also for initial quantities of fertilizers, insecticides and veterinary supplies. The health of the rural population is rather poor. Their diet has a surplus of animal protein but a shortage of calcium. They eat too much meat and starches and not enough vegetables, fruit and milk. Many of the people in rural areas suffer from infectious diseases, goiter, and dental decay. Probably these diseases are partly responsible for the lack of energy which a large part of the population displays~ Practically all of the people active in agriculture are poor or very poor.