Agroindustrial Modernization and the Emergence of Agroecology in Mexico (1920-1960)

Abstract

Mexican countryside was a field of dispute between two agro-productive models in the first half of the 20th century. As a result of demographic pressures and industrial and urban development projects promoted by the governments emerged from the Mexican Revolution, and later of the economic and geopolitical interests of the United States government and the Rockefeller Foundation, efforts were made to modernize the country's traditional agriculture through improved seeds, agrochemicals and agricultural machinery among other elements. Although in some regions of the country these components were quickly incorporated, in other parts they generated alert reactions and opposition due to the social, economic, environmental and even geopolitical risks and problems that were believed to be generated. And they also motivated the development of research to find alternatives to the mentioned components. We propose that, to the extent that these manifestations questioned the relevance of agro-industrial technologies and sought alternatives from an ecological perspective, they constitute fundamental antecedents in the history of Mexican agroecology.