Cooperativismo y difusión del cambio técnico en la agricultura. La contribución de las cámaras agrícolas (Cataluña, 1890-1930)

The Royal Decree of 14 November 1890 authorising the setting up of agricultural trade organisations, was the first legal initiative to encourage agrarian associations in Spain. It was promulgated during the agrarian depression in the late 19th century in order to promote agriculture development and to coordinate agrarian interests at the same time. Although few of these associations were founded, their importance was most noteworthy in Catalonia within the Spanish context. This paper seeks to analyse their contribution to the process of technical change. It examines their performance in cooperativist tasks (inputs supply, agrarian credit, and other co-operative services) as well as their achievements in the diffusion of technical knowledge (journals, conferences, competitions, exhibitions, campaigns, laboratories or experimental fields). Finally, it tries to explain the limits of these associations in the development of agrarian cooperativism during the first decades of the 20th century.