The foundation stone for the Madras Agricultural College and Research Institute was laid in Coimbatore on 24th September, 1906 by the then Governor of Fort St. George, Sir Arthur Lawley.
Students were first admitted into the Agricultural College at Coimbatore in 1908 for an educational programme leading to Licentiate in Agriculture (L.Ag.). The Agricultural College and Research Institute was opened by Sir Arthur Lawley on July 14, 1909. In 1920, the college was affiliated to the Madras University and a new course of study leading to a degree in Agriculture, B.Sc. (Ag.) was introduced and the first batch came out in 1923. To start with, only eight students were admitted for the three year degree course, the qualification for admission being a pass in the Intermediate examination with 11 years of study in school and two years of Intermediate before entering the Agricultural College, thus bringing the total duration of study for an Agricultural graduate to 16 years. The number of students admitted to the college gradually increased from eight in 1920 to forty eight in 1926.