About the Department
By sovereign decree on 14 April 1774, Maria Theresa of Austria ordered that the garden of the recently suppressed Jesuit College of Brera be designated as a Botanical Garden, with responsibilities including the teaching of medicinal botany to students of pharmacy and medicine. That same year, Minister Kaunitz wrote to the Governor of Lombardy, Carlo di Firmian, instructing that the garden should also be referred to as an “economic” botanical garden and that it should provide education not only on the use of different plants but also on the general principles of vegetation and the most advanced agricultural practices of the time.
Until 1860, Lombardy had only one university chair of agronomy, which was based at the University of Pavia and was offered to students of Engineering and Law as part of their respective curricula. On 13 November 1859, a law established a Higher Technical Institute in Milan (the future Polytechnic University), which awarded diplomas in agronomic and mechanical engineering. The Brera Garden was affiliated with the Higher Technical Institute in 1863.
On 16 December 1868, the Provincial Council of Milan commissioned its Deputation to draft a plan for the creation of a Higher School of Agriculture, incorporating the existing section of Land Surveying and Agronomy (including chairs in Agronomy, Rural Economy, Agricultural Hydraulics, Agricultural Law, Botany, and Applied Zoology) at the Higher Technical Institute of Milan.
The establishment of the Royal Higher School of Agriculture in Milan, the first of its kind in Italy, was formalised by Royal Decree on 10 April 1870. A report from the Ministry of Agriculture to the king, accompanying the decree, stated that: “As good agriculture is a universal necessity, and as every fully developed school in this field must be adapted to the various cultural landscapes of the peninsula, Italy undoubtedly requires multiple Higher Schools of Agriculture. Beginning with one in Milan, at the heart of the vast and fertile Lombard plain...”
The implementing regulations were approved by Royal Decree on 2 April 1871, and courses commenced that same year under the direction of Professor Gaetano Cantoni. The programme lasted three years, culminating in a degree in Agricultural Sciences. The School was granted the use of the Brera Botanical Garden, though it remained administratively dependent on the Higher Technical Institute.
Initially, the School was housed in the San Luca building of the former Military College at the end of Corso San Celso (near Porta San Celso, now Porta Ludovica). However, after just four years, it had to vacate the premises, which were reassigned to the Military College. The building offered ample space where the offices, classrooms, scientific laboratories, collections, machinery, and agricultural equipment were efficiently accommodated. Additionally, it featured an experimental field. The School was then relocated to the former Convent of the Incoronata on Via Marsala, where space was limited.
In 1888, following an agreement between the Government, the Province, and the Municipality, a reform proposed by Senator Francesco Brioschi—who had succeeded Professor Cantoni as Director—resulted in the School coming under direct state control. The number of subjects taught increased, and the duration of studies was extended to four years, with a final year dedicated to practical training.
By 1920, the Royal Higher School of Agriculture had been in operation for fifty years. A few years later, its name was changed to Regio Istituto Superiore Agrario di Milano, the Royal Higher Agricultural Institute of Milan. In 1926, it was relocated to its current site at Via Celoria 2.
Until 1935, Italy’s Higher Agricultural Institutes were under the jurisdiction of the Ministero dell'Agricoltura e Foreste—Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (initially the Ministero dell'Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio—Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce at the time of the School’s founding in 1870). In 1935, the Institute was transferred to the Ministry of Public Education and became a university faculty within the University of Milan. The separation from the Ministry of Agriculture was further reinforced in 1968 following the reform of several research institutions, which the Ministry separated from university faculties.
Today, the Faculty offers 17 degree courses, including nine three-year undergraduate degrees: Agrotechnologies for the Environment and Territory, Plant Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture (interfaculty), Plant and Green System Production and Protection, Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Food Science and Technology, Catering Science and Technology, Herbal Sciences and Technologies (interfaculty), Viticulture and Oenology, and Enhancement and Protection of Mountain Environment and Territory (based in Edolo, Valle Camonica). The latter is the only degree in Northern Italy dedicated exclusively to mountain issues and is taught entirely in a mountain setting. The eight master’s programmes build on these foundations and include: Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Environmental and Agricultural Plant Biotechnology, Agricultural Sciences, Agro-environmental Sciences, Plant Production and Protection Sciences, Food Science and Technology, Viticultural and Oenological Sciences (interfaculty), and Green Space and Landscape Design (interfaculty). The Faculty has approximately 3,000 students, with annual enrolments increasing from just over 500 to more than 800 over the past five years. Around 300 students graduate each year.
The Faculty of Agriculture in Milan is the only one in Lombardy and the largest in Italy. With 200 permanent faculty members, over 100 research fellows, and approximately 110 doctoral candidates, it boasts a research community of 400 scholars, enabling it to conduct research across virtually all sectors of agri-food studies. It is organised into three departments: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences – Production, Territory, Agroenergy (DiSAA), Department of Food, Nutrition and Environmental Sciences (DeFENS), and Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP).
In recent years, the Faculty has filed a dozen patents, primarily related to food science but also covering agronomic and environmental interests. Strong ties with industry are reflected in numerous research and consultancy agreements with companies in the sector.
