Abstract

This paper analyses some relationships between the agrarian problem and the process of capita-list development in Brazil. It argues that the increase of productivity associated with the deepening of the social division of labor changes the relations of production in the agricultural sector. The peasantry firstly linked to the feudal latifundia becomes wage labor hired in seasonal basis for the capitalist farms. In this context, the land problem emerges as a financial issue associated basically with the land price. As a result the agrarian reform based on the purchase of large areas by the government will not be a solution for the agrarian problem since it will support an increase in land prices.