Agriculture in Argentina

Development of agricultural output of Argentina in 2019 US$ since 1961
A soybean field in Argentina's fertile pampas region. The versatile legume makes up about half the nation's crop production and a fourth of its exports.

Agriculture is one of the bases of Argentina's economy.

Argentine agriculture is relatively capital intensive, providing about 7% of all employment as of 2013,[1] and, even during its period of dominance around 1900, accounting for no more than a third of all labor.[2] Having accounted for nearly 20% of GDP as late as 1959, it adds, directly, less than 10% today.[1]

Agricultural goods, whether raw or processed earn over half of Argentina's foreign exchange[1] and arguably remain an indispensable pillar of the country's social progress and economic prosperity. An estimated 10-15% of Argentine farmland is foreign owned.[3]

One fourth of Argentine exports of about US$86 billion in 2011 were composed of unprocessed agricultural primary goods, mainly soybeans, wheat and maize. A further one third were composed of processed agricultural products, such as animal feed, flour and vegetable oils.[4] The national governmental organization in charge of overseeing agriculture is the Secretariat of Agriculture, Cattle Farming, Fishing and Food (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Alimentos, SAGPyA).[5]

  1. ^ a b c Ministerio de Economía y Producción – República Argentina Archived October 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Rock, David. Argentina: 1516–1982. University of California Press, 1987.
  3. ^ Voss, Peer. "farmland as inflation hedge". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  4. ^ INDEC, Foreign Trade, Export Complexes Archived 2006-05-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Secretariat of Agriculture, Cattle Farming, Fishing and Food Archived September 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Official website.