[1][2] After several years of agronomic field trials and extension in Libya and laboratory research in Florence, he was appointed director of the Istituto agricolo coloniale italiano (Italian Agricultural Colonial Institute) in 1924.
[3] He ran the magazine L'agricoltura coloniale, later known as Rivista di agricoltura tropicale e subtropicale, and published several books and hundreds of articles on the topics dealt with by his institute.
[4] He enhanced staff technical skills and material endowments and established a net of collaborations with professionals and institutions worldwide.
His hands-on approach to the African environment and human dynamics resulted in precious advice on the valorization of ethnic and traditional knowledge and skills and the integration of indigenous dynamics in the shaping of the plantation enclave economy, thus containing the amount of metropolitan farmers settling in the Italian colonies.
His legacy includes a rich archive and photographic documentation on the Italian presence and work in Africa, the Mediterranean islands and Latin America, as well as on the environment and agriculture of the tropical and sub-tropical regions, stored at the Documentation Center and the Photographic Archive of the Istituto agronomico per l'oltremare.