O labor de experimentación e divulgación agronómica da Granxa da Devesa (1916-1936)

Abstract

We report the results of a study of the agricultural research and community education activities of the Pedro Murias Agricultural School. This school, which operated between 1916 and 1936 in the parish of A?Devesa in the municipality of Ribadeo (Lugo, Spain), was promoted by a returned émigré to encourage and help local peasant farmers to modernize their farms. During the same period, Spanish governments were also setting up institutions aimed at making Spanish farming produce competitive in a market that was becoming increasingly international and capitalist. The directors of the Pedro Murias School were active in contemporary debate on issues such as the improvement of autochthonous Galician breeds cattle and carried out significant research as well as educational programmes. Although the School failed to achieve general renown throughout Galicia as it might have done, it was a decisive factor in the modernization of agriculture in the Ribadeo area.