Una historia de compromiso con la agricultura y el saber: más de un siglo cultivando saberes entre surcos y letras, en los 111 años de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y los 85 años de su revista
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The history of the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences is a tale of collective effort, educational vision, and consistent contribution to Colombia's agricultural development. Its roots date back to the creation of the School of Tropical Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, established by Ordinance No. 11 of the Departmental Assembly of Antioquia on March 23, 1914. This institution was born from the conviction that agriculture constituted the foundation of the nation's genuine progress, responding to the call to modernize agricultural methods and train professionals committed to transforming the countryside. The School's official opening took place on October 10, 1916, and it began operations with 104 enrolled students. This number soon dropped to 84, reflecting the initial difficulties of consolidating a solid and attractive educational offering in a social context where migration to "white-collar" professions was a marked trend. Despite this, the School maintained its firm purpose: to train professionals capable of extracting all the richness of Colombian soil through modern agricultural science procedures, as expressed by El Colombiano in its October 7, 1916 newspaper. The School's spirit soon translated into student initiatives. In 1920, the first issue of El Agrónomo, a magazine edited by the students themselves, appeared. The magazine reflected academic enthusiasm and the need to create spaces for scientific dissemination. 1926 marked a turning point with the reorganization proposal led by Puerto Rican scientist Carlos Chardón. An agricultural development project was launched that included purchasing a new property for the School and constructing a modern building adapted to contemporary agricultural education needs. The search for new land, which extended from Itagüí to Girardota, and the School's active participation in events such as the Medellín Agricultural Exhibition demonstrated the effort to consolidate a physical and academic infrastructure aligned with its ideals of excellence. At the same time, land from the Fontidueño Farm was donated to create the Casa de Menores Agricultural Colony, reaffirming the institution's social commitment. The period of the so-called "Chardón Mission" in 1927 highlighted a crucial reflection on social trends: young people's abandonment of the countryside in search of more prestigious urban professions. The School, however, persisted in its mission to dignify agricultural work, highlighting its fundamental value for collective progress. The 1930s brought new challenges. In 1930, the School had to move its headquarters, abandoning Joaquín Santamaría's property and making the necessary arrangements for its return. That same year, international technical experts joined the School, contributing to strengthening its technical capabilities. However, budgetary difficulties forced their replacement in 1931 by national professionals trained at the institution itself, such as Francisco Luis Gallego and Ramón Mejía Franco. The School's academic consolidation was reflected in 1934 when it was annexed to the Universidad de Antioquia through Ordinance No. 34 of the Departmental Assembly. This incorporation provided institutional and financial support that allowed the School and the Tulio Ospina Experimental Station to collaborate more efficiently with other University programs, enriching their research and training capacity. In 1937, the process of educational expansion reached national dimensions. Incorporating the National Agricultural Institute into the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where it became the first School with a national presence, laid the foundations for a broad-based agricultural education system that transcended departmental borders. The students' enthusiasm and scientific interest continued unabated. In 1939, José Vicente Lafaurie Acosta and Jesús Atehortúa proposed the creation of a scientific journal to serve as the School's academic outreach body. This initiative materialized in 1940 with the founding of the Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía, under the students' direction. The journal was created to be a vehicle for scientific communication, reflecting the Faculty's research and academic work. From its first issues, it was characterized by its technical rigor and its focus on agricultural issues relevant to the country, contributing significantly to the consolidation of a scientific culture in the agricultural sector. This historical journey from 1914 to 1940 reflects the institutional evolution of the current Faculty of Agricultural Sciences. It illustrates a constant effort to respond to the country's needs, train excellent professionals, foster research, and promote rural development. The creation of the National Faculty of Agronomy Journal represents the close of a period of institutional maturation and the beginning of a new era in disseminating agricultural knowledge in Colombia. Today, as we recall these first steps, we reaffirm the Faculty's and its journal's commitment to building a more just, prosperous, and sustainable society rooted in agricultural knowledge and innovation.
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7126959942
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