Ministry of Agriculture (Chile)

The Ministry of Agriculture (also known by its acronym, Minagri) is the ministry of State in charge of agriculture and livestock in Chile. Since 11 March 2026, its head has been the lawyer Jaime Campos, who serves as minister of the portfolio under the administration of José Antonio Kast. It was created during the first government of Arturo Alessandri in 1924, under the name "Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Colonization", acquiring its current designation in 1930, during the first administration of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. History During the 19th century the Chilean agricultural institutional framework — at that time responsible for matters such as the protection and development of agriculture, the organization and maintenance of agricultural schools, and the regulation of forests — was located in the Ministry of Finance, and from 1887, following a reform under the government of José Manuel Balmaceda, in the Ministry of Industry and Public Works. It was only from the 1920s that the sector began to be endowed with its own institutional framework, due to its importance to the country, with the creation in 1924 — by the Military Junta led by General Luis Altamirano — of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Colonization. The new ministry was responsible, among other functions, for the protection of the agricultural industry, the organization and maintenance of agricultural education, the promotion and conservation of forests and forest reserves, animal and plant health policing, and the promotion of agricultural credit, of cooperatives for the purchase or sale of seeds, machinery, and products, and in general everything related to the rural economy. Three years later, the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo reorganized the State administration, so the agricultural institutional framework came under the Department of Agriculture of the new Ministry of Development. However, on 1 August 1930, Ibáñez himself returned autonomy to the sector, signing the decree that definitively created the Ministry of Agriculture. Thus, the new portfolio was composed of an undersecretariat and four departments: Arboriculture, Fruit Growing and Plant Health; Livestock and Animal Health; Oenology and Viticulture; and Rural Economy. It was also placed in charge of agricultural research laboratories, provincial agriculture services, agricultural schools, and the Quinta Normal of Agriculture. That same year, the Agricultural Export Board was also created, which would be succeeded in 1942 by the Institute of Agricultural Economics, while in 1932 the Agrarian Credit Bank — created in 1926 as a subsidiary of the Mortgage Credit Bank — became autonomous, and would therefore also relate to the State through the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1953, the second government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo restructured the ministry, which entailed the establishment of eight departments, the abolition of bodies such as the Epizootics Council, the Agricultural Plan Council and the National Commission for the Protection of Wildlife, and the transfer to Agriculture of services that depended on the Institute of Agricultural Economics and on the Ministry of Economy, including the Department of Fisheries and Hunting — which was renamed General Directorate of Fisheries and Hunting —, so that from that year on, fisheries institutions were left in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture. Subsequently, in 1957, Fisheries and Hunting was merged with the National Directorate of Agriculture and the new body was named General Directorate of Agricultural and Fisheries Production, composed of eight departments, including the Department for the Promotion of Fisheries and Hunting. In 1960 the General Directorate was once again reformulated, and this time renamed the Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries. The agrarian reform process that began in the first years of the 1960s, and which would extend until 1973, led to the creation of new institutions dependent on or related to the Ministry of Agriculture. The first agrarian reform law (Law 15,020, pejoratively known as the "flowerpot law"), enacted in 1962 by President Jorge Alessandri, created the Higher Council for Agricultural and Livestock Development (Confsa), the Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA) — successor to the Agricultural Colonization Bank, which was linked to the Ministry of Lands and Colonization — and the Agricultural Development Institute (Indap) — successor to the Agricultural Development and Research Council, created in 1953 —. Meanwhile, two years later the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) was created. Subsequently, the 1967 agrarian reform (Law 16,640) enacted by Eduardo Frei Montalva — broader and deeper than the one carried out by Jorge Alessandri — created the National Agrarian Council, the National Agricultural Credit Council, the Office of Agricultural Planning (successor to Confsa), and the Agricultural and Livestock Service (successor to the Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries). In 1970, toward the end of the Frei government, the Reforestation Corporation was also created, which in 1973 would change its name to National Forestry Corporation (Conaf). Following the coup d'état of 11 September 1973 that overthrew Salvador Allende, the military dictatorship carried out several transformations in the Ministry. The halt to the agrarian reform process — the vast majority of expropriated lands were returned or auctioned off by the State — resulted in the dissolution of the Agrarian Reform Corporation in 1978 and its replacement by the Agrarian Normalization Office (Odena), whose purpose was to conclude the activities of CORA; in 1989, meanwhile, the Office of Agricultural Planning was terminated and any law or regulation referring to agrarian reform was finally repealed. Also, between 1976 and 1978, fisheries institutions were returned to the Ministry of Economy and the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service were created, while agencies such as Conaf, SAG and Indap were subject to restructuring in terms of composition and functions. Functions One of the Ministry's stated objectives is to "reduce social inequality by strengthening and expanding the reach of development instruments, with priority for family and peasant agriculture". Another fundamental task is to contribute to value-adding in agriculture, which implies "promoting a development of the agricultural economy based both on technology and innovation, and on deepening the attributes that enhance the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture: the quality, safety, and health of silvoagricultural production". At the same time, this development gives appropriate priority to the protection of rural workers, communities, culture, and the country's natural resources. Dependencies Undersecretariat of Agriculture The Undersecretary of Agriculture is the second authority within the ministry in hierarchical terms. The position is currently held by Ignacia Fernández Gatica. Agencies under Minagri The following public agencies or services report to the Ministry of Agriculture: Agricultural Development Institute (INDAP) Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA) National Irrigation Commission (CNR) Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) Forestry Institute of Chile (INFOR) Natural Resources Information Center (CIREN) Foundation for Communications, Training and Culture of Agriculture (FUCOA) Agroseguros Chilean Agency for Food Quality and Safety (ACHIPIA) List of representatives See also Agriculture in Chile Aquaculture in Chile References External links Official website