The Reclamation Consortium of the Baraggia Biellese and Vercellese area is a historical reality which, in the last century, played a decisive role in the transformation and enhancement of the Baraggia area.

The name "Baraggia" has ancient origins, perhaps Celtic, and indicates a land where only brambles, undergrowth vegetation rich in thorns, heather, ling and oaks can grow.

On the territory, which is characterized by the presence of plateaus, the circulation of surface water is almost completely lacking and the clayey, fine and compacted soils are not arid and not at all fertile.

Precisely because of these particular characteristics, which made it difficult to convert the territory into agricultural land, on 16 July 1922 the Decree of the Ministry for the National Economy defined the Baraggia area as "reclamation territory", to be subjected to economic and social transformation of public interest, but it wasn’t until 1931 that the Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (Ministerial Decree no. 1458 of 2 May 1931), signed by Arrigo Serpieri, delimited the Baraggia Vercellese reclamation area in a geographical area of about 44,000 hectares, between the northern part of the territory of the Province of Vercelli and the southern part of the Province of Biella. Subsequently, to carry out the interventions necessary for the transformation of this area, on 9 December 1950, with decree no. 3862 signed by the Italian President Luigi Einaudi, the Reclamation Consortium of Baraggia Biellese and Vercellese was established as a public utility company in charge of operating in this depressed area through land reclamation and land improvement work.

Following the establishment of the Consortium, all the works necessary for remedying the shortcomings of the territory were undertaken, such as the construction of minor roads, power lines, levelling of land, aqueducts, irrigation infrastructures, enhancing both the land already cultivated in the central-eastern part of the area, as well as those with new irrigation. Thanks to the Consortium’s activities, Baraggia has overcome its original poverty, coming out of the isolation and the mud. The mechanisation of agricultural work also opposed the exodus of the rural population, consisting mainly of those "pioneers" who, in the early twentieth century, came from Veneto and Calabria in particular and were known for the strength and tenacity that still distinguishes the "People of Baraggia".

Planimetry attached to Decree no.1458 of 2/5/1931 delimiting the reclamation area. In the top left corner, the signature of Arrigo Serpieri.

Full text of the area delimitation decree signed by Arrigo Serpieri, creator of and protagonist in the full reclamation of the country.