Making Sense of the Road to Legal Abortion in Argentina

Abstract

In this text we will describe the historical path of use, in Brazil, of mallow (Urena lobata L.), a plant found in the national flora that is the perfect counterpart to jute (Corchorus olitorius L. and Corchorus capsularis L.), an exotic plant. The objective of this article is to produce knowledge about the process of using mallow to produce fibers intended for making bags for packaging agricultural products, as well as for other uses in weaving. To do this, we analyzed the historical context in which the first attempts to cultivate mallow took place in Brazil, which took place between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. We also analyze the current context of cultivation of this plant, carried out in the Amazon. In this region, there is, fundamentally, the collection and/or cultivation of mallow for seed production in the northeast of Pará and, in the neighboring state of Amazonas, cultivation takes place for the production of fibers. The methodology used was documentary research, carried out in the archives of important agricultural research institutions in the country. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that mallow practically replaced jute in the Amazon, not because there were differences in the production process or in the efficiency and quality of its fibers, but rather because of the abandonment of research linked to jute in the region and seed availability. This omission led to a reduction in the production and supply of seeds, causing riverside dwellers to now almost exclusively cultivate mallow.