The Generalitat subsidizes the entrepreneurship of rural women in the primary sector

The Department of Agriculture, Water, Livestock and Fisheries has approved Order 10/2026, of September 18, which establishes the regulatory bases for entrepreneurship grants in the primary sector for women residing in rural municipalities of the Valencian Community. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) number 10456, of September 22, 2026, with the official reference DOGV-C-2026-29728, and enters into force the day following its publication. The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and under the de minimis aid framework.

The order repeals and replaces Order 1/2023, of January 4, which articulated a system of awards for rural women’s entrepreneurship (DOGV 9514, 18.01.2023). The new text evolves toward a regime of direct grants aimed at improving the viability and initial consolidation of business projects led by women in agricultural holdings—crop, livestock, and forestry—and aquaculture. The signature corresponds to the regional minister Miguel Barrachina Ros.

The preamble justifies the measure with official data: the municipalities of the Valencian Rural Area occupy 38.1% of the regional territory and total 92,197 inhabitants (2024), barely 1.73% of the Valencian population. The agricultural sector generated a gross value added of 3.096 billion euros in 2024 (2.3% of the regional GVA) and employed 44,900 people (1.9% of the total).

Requirements for beneficiaries

• Natural persons: women between 18 years of age and the maximum ordinary retirement age, with administrative residence in a municipality of the Valencian Rural Area.
• Legal entities: micro-enterprises and small enterprises with a registered office in that area and effective control of the decision-making body in the hands of women (more than 50% of the capital and voting rights in commercial companies; at least 50% of the governing board and female presidency in cooperatives and agricultural transformation societies).
• The effective establishment in the activity must have occurred before the application and must not exceed 24 months of seniority.
• The activity must be developed mostly in the Valencian Rural Area: at least 60% of the holding’s surface area or its income in livestock and aquaculture.
• The status of a non-pluriactive agricultural or aquaculture entrepreneur and the submission of a consolidation plan are required.

Amounts and eligible expenses

The aid is paid in a single payment and partially covers expenses already incurred, paid, and justified:

• Technical, legal, tax, labor, or economic advisory and consultancy: up to 2,000 euros.
• Notary and registry: up to 2,000 euros.
• Activity or environmental licenses, authorizations, or permits: up to 3,000 euros.
• Environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, energy saving, animal welfare, or environmental certification: up to 4,000 euros.
• Innovation, digitalization, traceability, and digital marketing: up to 4,000 euros.
• Social Security contributions of the beneficiary or of women with effective control: up to 13,500 euros.

Debtor interest, surcharges and penalties, cash expenses, recoverable indirect taxes, rents, utilities, and fuels are excluded.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be scored and must reach a minimum of 10 points:

• Age: 5 points between 18 and 35 years; 4 points between 36 and 50; 3 points from 51 onwards.
• Previous employment situation of unemployment and social situation (disability, large family).
• Municipal population: 5 points if equal to or less than 150 inhabitants; 2 points if it exceeds 1,000.
• Company characteristics: number of women employed, integration of people with functional diversity, and productive sector (livestock and aquaculture, 3 points; agricultural, 2; forestry, 1).
• Environmental sustainability and resource efficiency, and innovation and digitalization, with up to 3 and 4 points respectively.

Deadlines, Control, and Reimbursement

• The call for applications corresponds to the competent general directorate for rural development and will be published in the DOGV.
• The maximum period to resolve and notify is 3 months from the end of the application period; administrative silence is dismissive.
• Beneficiaries must maintain the activity for at least 6 months from the submission of the application.
• The control plan will include on-site verifications of at least 10% of the grants and 15% of the amount granted.
• The reimbursement procedure will be resolved within a maximum period of 12 months from the initiation agreement.
• De minimis limits are 50,000 euros (agricultural sector), 40,000 euros (fishing and aquaculture), and 300,000 euros (general regime) per single company over three years.

The regulation provides direct financing to female farmers, livestock breeders, and aquaculture producers in municipalities with the highest risk of depopulation, a group that the preamble itself places among those most affected by the lack of recognition of their activity and by the difficulties in accessing resources and public support. By conditioning the aid to the continuity of the operation and the accreditation of expenses, the Generalitat links the support to generational renewal and the stabilization of the population in the Valencian rural environment.

Source: Diari Oficial de la Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10456, September 22, 2026, I. General Provisions, page 1 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-29728).