The Bella Research Office was founded in 1911 as the Royal Zootechnical Institute, by the express will of the lucan Francesco Saverio Nitti, Minister of Agriculture. It is due to Alberto Romolotti, first director of the Royal Zootechnical Institute for Lucania, for the transformation of an almost abandoned farm into a centre for demonstration activities and the transfer of technologies and technical means. In 1967, the Zootechnical Institute for Lucania became part of the Experimental Institute for Zootechnics in Rome. In 2014, the office became part of Council for Research and Experimentation in Agriculture (CRA) and is currently affiliated with the Research Center for Zootechnics and Aquaculture (CREA-ZA).
The existence of "Tor mancina" farm is well documented since the year 1600, it belonged to the most important Roman noble families (Barberini, Grillo and Boncompagni) until 1922, when the estate was sold by S.E. Don Francesco Antonio Boncompagni Ludovisi, prince of Piombino and member of the Italian Parliament, to the Agricultural and Livestock Dairy Institute.
The following year the latter took the name of Experimental Zootechnic Institute of Rome, which in 1967 became the Husbandry Experimental Institute and in 2014 the Monterotondo headquarters of CREA Animal Production and Aquaculture Research Center.
The Experimental Institute of Zootechnics of Modena was established in 1925 with the task of breeding local, national and foreign animal breeds for research and selection purposes and of promoting Modenese and regional animal husbandry. In 1967 it merged with the Experimental Institute for Animal Husbandry, based in Rome. Since 2006 it has become the CREA Research Unit for Pig Farming. Until the 1980s, research focused on dairy and meat cattle, pork, poultry breeds, as well as the production of Parmigiano Reggiano. The current research activity is focused on the relationship between nutrition and quality of pork according to PDO products, on the reduction of the environmental impact of farming, on the use of livestock waste for agricultural and energy purposes and on pig farming. with organic method.
The Lodi headquarters of the Research Centre for Animal Production and Aquaculture (CREA-ZA) derives from the aggregation of four Institutes of the Ministry of agriculture, food and forestry policies, founded between the last years of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century: the Institute for Fodder Crops, the Institute for Dairy Products, the Institute for Animal Production, section of Cremona and the Institute for Cereal Research, section of St.Angelo Lodigiano. In 1923, a farm was added to the Dairy Institute. The different structures have been aggregated into a single body covering the scientific and technical skills over the entire dairy cattle chain, from fodder to food.
