The British government in India, shaken by several famines in India, set up a commission to improve the state of agriculture to reduce the impact of famines. This led to the Famine Commission of 1880 and in 1889 a commission was set up with
Voelcker to examine agriculture in India. The report led the rulers of Mysore kingdom (
The Wodeyars) to establish research units in the field of agriculture and donated about of land to set up an Experimental Agricultural Station at
Hebbal, and appointed German-Canadian chemist
Adolf Lehmann in 1900 who began research on soil fertility at a laboratory that now houses the Directorate of Agriculture. About 30 acres of land was then acquired at Hebbal for experimental fields. Later in 1906,
Leslie Coleman, a Canadian
Entomologist and
Mycologist succeeded Lehmann and served for 25 years. File:Coleman MS-012 5 1 3 15 J 0023.jpg|Mysore Agricultural School File:Agri department Bangalore 1904.jpg|Plan of Lehmann's laboratory File:Wetland_experimental_plots_Hebbal.jpg|Plan of the wetland experimental plots at Hebbal (now the site of the Hebbal flyover) File:Coleman_group_agriculture_diploma.jpg|Diploma students in front of the Mysore Agricultural School, c. 1930 File:Coleman MS-012 5 1 3 15 J 0039.jpg|Farm day at the Mysore Agricultural School, c. 1930 What began on a land was soon extended to about . The increasing reputation of this experimental station as a training center led to the foundation of the Mysore Agricultural College at
Hebbal in 1946 affiliated to the
Mysore University. This was soon followed by the Agricultural College at
Dharwad in 1947 which was then affiliated to
Karnataka University. In 1958, veterinary science as a discipline was started with the establishment of the
Veterinary College at Hebbal also affiliated to Mysore University. The then Mysore State Government through its Act No. 22 passed in 1963 provided for the creation of the University of Agricultural Sciences. The university came into existence on 21 August 1964 and was meant to serve the agricultural education needs of the state of Karnataka The university initially included the agricultural colleges at Hebbal and Dharwad, the Veterinary College at Hebbal, the fisheries college at Mangalore, and 35 research stations located in different parts of the state following agroclimatic zonation and focus on specific crops along with 45
ICAR projects which were with the State Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. ==Constituent colleges==