The need for an Agricultural College in Assam to impart training and education in subjects relating to crops, soil and climatic condition of Assam was felt for a long time both by the Government and people of Assam. However, it could not be materialized till India attained independence. At the dawn of independence, the foundation of the Assam Agricultural College was laid at Borbheta, an outskirt of Jorhat town on the 16th August, 1948 by the then Governor of Assam, Late Akbar Hyderi.
          The College started its academic programme in an abandoned military Camp. Late Rev. B. M. Pugh was appointed as the first Principal of the College. Initially, there were one Professor and eight teachers to conduct the B.Sc. (Agri) degree programme. Thirty students were enrolled in the first batch to begin with. The academic programme included the subjects of Agronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Entomology, Zoology, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Agril. Engineering, Mathematics, English and Vernacular language, Tea science, Statistics and Economics.
          Dr. M. C. Das took over as the Principal in 1949 and served and guided the College for long 17 years until 1966. It was during the period of his stewardship that the institution gained momentum to become a full-fledged Agricultural College. During the first five years of its existence, the College was affiliated to the Gauhati University. With the establishment of Dibrugarh University, the affiliation was shifted to it, till the establishment of the Assam Agricultural University (A.A.U.) in 1969. In the formation of A.A.U., the erstwhile Assam Agricultural College formed the nucleus of the budding university.
          The College followed traditional system of teaching and evaluation until 1970. In 1971 the trimester system of teaching and internal evaluation in the pattern of land grant Colleges of the U.S.A. was introduced in 1977, the semester system of teaching and evaluation was started and continued. However, it was felt that the transfer system was not functioning effectively in our conditions.