Bast Hr Institute expects expansion of industrial hemp plantations in Ukraine

This was reported by the head of the sector for research of intellectual beauty and marketing innovations of the Institute of BASTS of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine E.F. Primakov in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to Primakov, since 2020, the area of industrial hemp plantations was approximately 3.5 thousand hectares. However, with the onset of full-scale Russian aggression, it decreased to 2 thousand hectares. In 2023, hemp crops in Ukraine amounted to about 1.5 thousand hectares. Last year, agricultural producers sowed 3 thousand hectares, mainly in the Sumy, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions.

Earlier, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine noted that with the adoption of the law on state regulation of hemp turnover, plantations could expand to 8 thousand hectares.

Primakov believes that the actual area of hemp crops this year could be approximately 4.5 thousand hectares, since this process is influenced by economic, political and military risks.

“It makes no sense to simply pass a law – it is necessary to change the approach. If farmers correctly understand the process and all stages, then it will be possible to grow hemp more effectively, because the farmer must be ready for new requirements,” Primakov emphasized.

According to him, sometimes it takes several years before a producer decides to grow hemp. Thus, in 2026, under stable conditions, the area of hemp plantations may indeed increase, but at the moment there are only prerequisites for their expansion to 4.5 thousand hectares.

Some farmers believe that only certain regions of Ukraine with high humidity are suitable for growing industrial hemp. However, as noted by the director of the industrial park management company Hempy UA, a member of the NGO “Association for the Development of Flax and Hemp of Ukraine” Andrey Alechko, the main task is to preserve moisture in the early stages of plant growth, when the first five or six leaves appear.

“This year we intend to experiment with hemp in the southern regions. Last year we sowed [hemp] in the Vinnytsia region, as well as in the Cherkasy region, that is, in central Ukraine. This hemp requires basic care, but it does not require anything special,” Alechko added.

As Primakov noted, Ukraine has one of the best hemp varietal potentials in the world, since it is possible to choose a variety and technology that allows hemp to be grown in any part of the country.