The President of the Lleida Provincial Council, Joan Talarn, participated last Tuesday in the inauguration of the Agrobiotech Innovation Forum 2026, held at Fira de Lleida from October 27th to 29th. During the first day, the Council presented the progress of ‘Lleida Alimenta’, a project designed to transform the territory's agri-food system through three main pillars: regenerative agriculture, processing industry, and the connection between gastronomy and tourism. The objective is to enhance the sector's competitiveness, foster more sustainable production models, and increase the added value of agri-food products from the lands of Lleida, the Pyrenees, and Aran.
Talarn highlighted that ‘Lleida Alimenta’ is "a fundamental project" for advancing towards sustainable competitiveness, and advocated for the need for the territory not only to produce food but also to be capable of transforming it and generating innovation. "We are not just a pantry for Catalonia, but we generate innovation here and we also want to transform what we produce ourselves," stated the president, situating this ambition within the framework of the Shared Agenda ‘Lleida, Land of Opportunities’.
‘Lleida Alimenta’ is one of the main outcomes of the work developed by the Transformative Innovation Centre (CIT) for Agri-food Value Chains, located in Lleida. The project articulates collaboration between producers, companies, research centres, administrations, and other sector stakeholders to identify shared challenges and promote initiatives that contribute to transforming the agri-food model.
Currently, the regenerative agriculture line is the most advanced, with a defined action plan to improve soil fertility, promote more resilient production systems, and adapt crops to new climatic conditions. The other two lines, focused on the development of the processing industry and the opportunities offered by the connection between gastronomy and tourism, are in the phase of defining their respective action plans, with development anticipated during 2027.
The Advisor for Transformation of the Lleida Provincial Council, Teresa Botargues, explained that the project has also strengthened initiatives arising from the productive sector itself. She highlighted the role of the Raimat Community Foundation, which has brought together producers from the territory interested in advancing towards regenerative agriculture in response to the loss of productivity in agricultural soils. Botargues warned of the need to promote regeneration to ensure productive capacity and facilitate crop adaptation to climate change.
She also emphasized that this transformation requires the direct involvement of the sector and explained that the CIT works to support initiatives, strengthen them, and convey investment demands and necessary regulatory changes to the relevant authorities for their effective implementation in the territory.
The presentation of ‘Lleida Alimenta’ also served to review the first year of operation of the four Transformative Innovation Centres promoted by the Lleida Provincial Council within the framework of the Shared Agenda ‘Lleida, Land of Opportunities’. Launched in 2025, these centres aim to identify the territory's main economic challenges, connect public and private actors, and facilitate the development of shared projects. The four centres are located in Alcarràs (agri-food bioeconomy), Balaguer (sustainable energy), Lleida (agri-food value chains), and Sort (forest bioeconomy). After a year of activity, they already have various action plans in different development phases and have contributed to promoting two significant transformative projects: ‘Lleida Alimenta’ and ‘Pirineu Local Forest’, the latter focused on a new management model for the Pyrenean forest resources.
Talarn valued this cooperative working method and argued that economic transformation should lead to better utilization of the territory's resources, reduced external dependencies, and the creation of new opportunities for activity and employment.
The Provincial Council's stand at the Agrobiotech Innovation Forum hosted activities such as a special program by COPE Lleida on the CITs and ‘Lleida Alimenta’. The space ‘The company explains innovation’ was also held, in collaboration with the FEMAC cluster, where companies such as JYGSA, Agrinpulse, Agrodevices, Teyme, Arcusin, and Gili Group presented their innovations. The event was attended by the Deputy for Economic Promotion, Jordi Verdú, and the manager of FEMAC, Enric Pedrós.
Verdú also participated in a session on business financing solutions at the Start-up Arena space, with representatives from ENISA, CDTI, ICF, and ICO, and the Councillor for Culture and City Promotion of the Lleida City Council, Pilar Bosch.
The Lleida Provincial Council will continue its program at the Agrobiotech Innovation Forum until Thursday, October 29th, with activities focused on agri-food innovation, bioeconomy, business financing, and the presentation of the Pirineu Local Forest project.
