The article addresses the trajectory and adaptative process of Chilean peasant agriculture from the mid-1970s to 2020. Our hypothesis is that peasant agricultural production has been forced into a process of permanent reconversion, which takes place every time a new agrarian policy is defined. Based on a review of secondary data, interviews, documents and other studies on agrarian transformation, we undertake a sociohistorical analysis of the adaptative process of peasant agriculture to these changes in the irrigated valleys of Chile's central area. We also address the role played by the state in these developments. Our analysis highlights the difficulties of adapting to the neoliberal modernization process, as well as the most recent problems involving drought and the dispute over water in the central valley.