The EKTA (Ebro Kissan farmers Training and Awareness) programme, led by Ebro India and Fundación Ebro, is an agricultural training and skills initiative which focuses on the good use of pesticides, one of the major food safety problems in India.

Launched in 2015, the programme has gradually been expanded and to date has involved more than 7,500 farmers. The project, supported by a group of volunteers who are professionals at Ebro India together with an expert from Haryana University, has broadened its training tools and provided the farmers with a radio programme in which they can ask a rice farming expert questions live on air, and with leaflets and posters containing indications, warnings and technical information.

The results of measurements of pesticide levels performed afterwards in the areas where the training was given show a considerable decrease in comparison with the previous year’s measurements, and are at the levels permitted by the European Union.