Socio-productive trajectories of the dairy families of El Solar colony (Entre Ríos, Argentine), founded by Volga Germans in 1920

Abstract

The sociocultural and economic processes that occurred in the El Solar dairy basin in Entre Ríos, founded in 1920 by Volga Germans, in the Department of La Paz in the province of Entre Ríos, were studied. These immigrants gained access through agricultural colonization to plots in which they planted wheat and corn, distributing the tasks of the field in the family. They incorporated farm and orchard and later, livestock for self-consumption. Initially, part of the milk produced was sent to creameries and cheese factories and then to dairy plants that promoted some 70 dairy farms in the 70s. The colony was consolidated and prospered thanks to community organization, which leading to manage transcendental advances: education, electricity and Route 12. There were important changes in the production processes: immigrant farmers became family producers, evidencing capitalization, investment and incorporation of technology. Subsequently, there was closure and reconversion of dairy farms, currently leaving only 17 dairy farms in the hands of the decendents generation of the colonizing Volga residents.