The early development of agricultural engineering disciplines in Italy

This paper illustrates the sequence of events that led to the initial development of agricultural engineering disciplines in Italy. It describes the processes that enabled Italian rural development, as well as the establishment and growth of the number of agricultural higher education institutions prior to their transformation into university agricultural faculties. Finally, the establishment in Europe of the Commission Internationale de Génie Rural (CIGR) and in Italy of the Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering (AIIA) is recalled, which both supported the development of the agri-food sector in Italy.