Institut Agro Montpellier (previously named Montpellier SupAgro till 2020) is a French public institution devoted to higher education and research in Agriculture, Food and Environment. Montpellier SupAgro is widely open to international issues and partnerships, with specific focus and expertise on southern and Mediterranean areas. It trains students in most of the

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

and life sciences fields. It is part of Agropolis Fondation. The Montpellier INRA research center is also located on ''la Gaillarde'' campus.INRA Montpellier
/ref> It belongs to the

Institut Agro The Institut Agro or National Institute of Higher Education for Agriculture, Food and the Environment is a French public scientific, cultural and professional establishment (EPSCP), a '' Grands établissements'' created on January 1, 2020. It is ...

, along with

Institut Agro Rennes-Angers Institut Agro Rennes-Angers (previously named as Agrocampus Ouest till 2020) is a French higher education institution, known as a grande école. Its official name is ''Institut supérieur des sciences agronomiques, agroalimentaires, horticoles et ...

and Institut Agro Dijon.

History

The ''École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier'' was founded in 1848. From 1842 to 1853, Césaire Nivière was the first director of the precursor to the school, L’Institut de la Saulsaie, set up on his own land in Montluel. He had visited Germany where he was inspired by the farming techniques, and England where he saw techniques for water management for farmland. He was a pioneer in reducing wetlands bringing public health benefits to his area. From 1881 to 1897,

Gustave Foëx Gustave Foëx (Gustave Louis Émile Foëx, born in Marseille in 1844 - died in 1906) was a French ampelographer and a colleague of Pierre Viala. Gustave Foex was Director of the National School of Agriculture of Montpellier (French: École nation ...

was director of the school. He was also a professor of viticulture from 1870 to 1896, and he created the school vineyard in 1876 to test the American vine-stock's resistance to

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

. At the end of the 19th century, Montpellier was recognized to be the European centre for studying vines, attracting both eminent researchers and viticulture specialists to the school. The school oriented academic course content according to the main crops and agricultural practices already existing in the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. Animal breeding and husbandry in harsh zones, vineyards, fruit orchards and olive groves on the plains and water management for drought conditions and marshlands In the 1980s, the French government decided to relocate all its tropical and Mediterranean research units to Montpellier, united in Agropolis International. SupAgro is a founding member of Agropolis International with over 2000 researchers, other members include the CIRAD and IRD and the IAMM institute of higher education in agriculture for Mediterranean countries.

Education programmes

Montpellier SupAgro offers students and professionals two engineering courses (Master level) and a wide range of programs following the European LMD framework (Bachelor, Master/Advanced Master, PhD).

Engineering training

Montpellier SupAgro proposes an engineering training programme (Master level) offering dual specializations:
Agricultural sciences engineering
master's degree
Sustainable agricultural & food systems for the south engineering
master's degree.

Master's

It proposes also a wide range of international master's and master's programmes in partnership with the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

. * International Masters in “Agronomy and Agrifood Science” (Master 3A) with 9 specializations: ** AgroDesign ** Environmental management of tropical ecosystems and forests (GEEFT) ** Markets, organization, quality, services and policies in southern agriculture (MOQUAS) ** Resources, agricultural systems and development (RESAD) ** Plant Health ** Selection and evolution of Mediterranean and tropical plants (SEPMET) ** Soil (SOL) ** Livestock farming systems * Vinifera EuroMaster - Vine and wine sciences * Agris Mundus - Master of Science Sustainable Development in Agriculture * PlantHealth European Master] * M.Sc. Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution with two specializations: ** DARWIN ** EcoSystems * M.Sc. Biology Agrosciences with two specializations: ** Science and processing of agro-resources for the alimentation and the environment ** Interactions Micro-organisms/Hosts/Environment * Master Water Sciences ** Water and society ** Water and agriculture * Master of Economics of Environment, Transport and Energy, Specialization Economics of agricultural development, environment and food * Master Marketing & Sales with two specializations: ** Wine marketing ** Agrifood marketing and sales via work-study

National Œnology Diploma

* Œnology Diploma (''Diplôme National d'Œnologue, DNO)''

Postgraduate specialist diploma

* Postgraduate specialist diploma in vine and wine management & OIV MSc in Wine Management

Advanced masters

* Advanced M.Sc. - Innovations and Policies for Sustainable Food Systems (IPAD)

PhD programme

* At Montpellier SupAgro, the training of PhD students is carried out in close cooperation with other universities and research organizations in and around Montpellier.

Notable people

* Pyotr Z. Bazhbeuk-Melikov (1872–1944),

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

n agronomist and politician; graduate *

Pierre Galet Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet intro ...

(1921–2019), French

ampelographer Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of th ...

; faculty member *

Constantin Mimi Constantin Mimi (10 March 1868 – 17 April 1935) was a Bessarabian politician and winemaker, whose family had noble origins. Biography He graduated from Odessa State University and SupAgro (Montpellier). When the February Revolution happe ...

(1868–1935), Bessarabian politician; graduate

References

External links

Institut Agro Montpellier
Montpellier SupAgro Montpellier SupAgro Agronomy schools Educational institutions established in 1848 1848 establishments in France {{France-university-stub