The article examines the historical role of agricultural societies in creating a scientific, research and educational environment in the agricultural sector, emphasizing the relevance of the acquired experience for the further development of innovations in Ukraine. Based on the application of problem-chronological and contextual analysis, the aspects of the creation and functioning of agricultural societies in a broad historical, socio-economic and political context are highlighted using the example of the activities of the Galician Agricultural Society, created by representatives of the Polish elite and its contribution to the modernization of the agricultural sector of the region, in particular through the establishment and further activities of the Higher Agricultural School in Dublyany. The development of the curriculum, the creation of scientific laboratories, the publication of scientific publications and the involvement of famous scientists contributed to the transformation of the institution into a center of education and scientific research.

Using systematic, historiographical and biographical methods, the characteristic features of the figure of Professor Tomasz Rylsky (1838–1924) are highlighted, whose activities combined the educational, scientific and public spheres, in particular the organization of the first testing station of agricultural machines and tools in the Ukrainian-Polish territories and the active popularization of new agronomic knowledge through the publication of scientific works in the Society's professional publications. The generalized conclusion is reduced to the statement about the fundamental role of public initiatives and state support in laying the fundamental foundations for the development of agricultural science and research in Ukraine.

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