The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food awarded two Asturian projects the Excellence Award for Innovation for Rural Women. Ana Labad, from Anchoas Hazas, receives the first prize for innovation in fishing or aquaculture and Lucía González Cuesta, from Allande Stars, receives the third prize for innovation in diversification of economic activity in rural areas.
The Ottoman Ministry gives special recognition of the honorary nature of the XVII Innovation Excellence Awards for Rural Women onto Remedios Zafra Alcaraz, National Essay Award 2025, for her career as a writer and researcher and her contribution to narrating the identity of rural women from a double perspective, literary and investigative.
In addition, the ministry has awarded 12 projects promoted by women In the four categories of this edition: innovation in agricultural activity, fishing or aquaculture activity, economic diversification of the rural environment and communication. Each modality has a first, second and third prize, endowed with 18,000, 12,000 and 7,500 euros, respectively.
The awards have been convened annually since 2010. In its 17 editions, the ministry has recognized 174 projects out of 915 applications supportedwith the aim of giving visibility to women's work and life projects and their contribution to the social and economic dynamisation of rural areas.
EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
The first prize has gone to Raquel Fernández González, by Los Izanes TC, a jointly owned beekeeping farm located in Soto and Amío (León). The project obtains added value from honeys, myelates and different varieties of monofloral pollen and has diversified its activity with environmental services, beehive sponsorship and experiences of apiturism.
The second prize is for Carolina Fernández Martín, by its extensive organic livestock farming, which incorporates university research results to improve cattle feeding and meat quality. The project also combines livestock farming with rural accommodation and agrotourism experiences.
The third prize recognizes a Lucía López Ortiz, by Iber Melanosporum SL-
La Tartufería, by El Castellar (Teruel), dedicated to the transformation and commercialization of black truffle. Among its innovations stands out a truffle butter developed through cold pasteurization to prolong its shelf life.
EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION IN FISHING OR AQUACULTURE
The first prize went to Ana Labad, for Anchovies Hazas, de Lastres (Asturias), dedicated to the artisanal elaboration of anchovies with Bocarte del Cantábrico. The company takes advantage of 99% of its by-products and has 14 people with an indefinite contract.
The second prize recognises a Elena Modo, fisherman of minor arts of El Port de la Selva (Girona), by Empordà Mar, a project that combines artisanal fishing with educational workshops and outreach activities on marine ecosystems.
The third prize has been awarded to the women of the Professional Association of Redeiras of Affection (A Coruña) by Miranda: Look at the sea, one Initiative developed together with Mariscadoras y Trabajadores of the canning industry to promote generational relief, female employment and seafaring tourism.
EXCELLENCE TO INNOVATION IN DIVERSIFICATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN RURAL AREAS
The first prize has been awarded to Natali Asorey Zorraquino, by Colaxe model, A Care and Social Economy Initiative which has propelled a network of 10 cooperatives and 21 houses of the mayor on the Costa da Morte, with 105 day-care places managed by 21 women.
The second prize is for Eva Sánchez Rodríguez, founding partner of Innoplant Technology and Agricultural Research SL, by Víznar (Granada), for the development of an assisted pollination technology for fruit and vegetable crops by electrostatic nebulization.
The third prize corresponds to Lucía González Cuesta, doctor of astrophysics and founder of
Allande Stars, an Asturian company that brings astronomy and scientific dissemination to rural areas through an itinerant model and promotes the protection of the night sky.
EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION
The first prize has been awarded to Nuria Peña Delgado per Living rural memory: memory of the laundries, an initiative that recovers the history, crafts and knowledge of the Sorian laundries through a documentary and participatory meetings.
The second prize corresponds to MOSS PRODUCCIONES SL per Marta in the Ribera, A 12-episode video podcast presented by Marta Clot that shows the current reality of the Ribera del Duero and especially makes visible the professional women of the rural environment and the wine sector.
The third prize is for Laura Santos Álvarez, creator of the company Almealera, by I was born in a groove of Jews, a documentary theatre show whose text comes in 90% of interviews with young farmers and ranchers from different Spanish territories. The creation is promoted by the CSIC, within the FARM Project, which from 2024 to the beginning of 2026 investigated the problem of the agrarian generational relay from a gender and sustainability perspective.
AWARD CEREMONY
The gala of delivery of the XVII Innovation Excellence Awards for Rural Women the next one October 15, International Day of Rural Women, in the Lucernario of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in Madrid. The act can also be followed virtually in the section of live broadcasts From the website of the Ministry.
The celebration coincides this year with the International Year of Women Farmers, declared by the United Nations, so the gala will also have representation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In addition to the financial endowment, the ministry provides award-winning and finalist training and mentoring through the program. We grow together and promotes the visibility of your projects through participation in fairs and other dissemination actions.