Hemp industry in Ukraine - current state and prospects
The Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine and the United States are negotiating to increase the supply of hemp seeds for growing technical hemp on Ukrainian territory. This is due to the growing need of America for polymers and paint materials from hemp raw materials.
How developed is the hemp industry in Ukraine and abroad
The conditions for technical hemp in Ukrainian fields are ideal and for the country its cultivation is 100% payable. Back in the noughties, this culture occupied an area of 3,000 hectares, and now it is only 700-800 hectares. At the same time, there are industries in the country - textile and cosmetics, which require hemp raw materials, but the scale of cannabis cultivation is negligible, especially in comparison with other countries.
France produces the most technical hemp - 59% of the world's volumes. China is not too far behind - about 38% of total world production. Also in the lead are Chile, South Korea and the Netherlands. Oddly enough, but the unspoken center of cannabis culture grows the least industrial hemp - 6614 tons per year. For comparison, in China this figure is 44 thousand tons per year. Needless to say, what a great help to the economy can be provided by an increase in hemp cultivation in Ukraine, despite the fact that our lands are ideally suited for it?
In Europe, housing construction from hemp raw materials is gaining popularity, and polymer products from it are stronger than ordinary plastic and decompose well. The quality characteristics of these materials are so high that they are used in the automotive industry. Plus, hemp-based polymer-based cars are lighter, which saves fuel.
Can the hemp industry develop in Ukraine
Now there are several enterprises in the industry that are engaged in the cultivation of technical hemp and production from its raw materials. There are conditions for development - suitable soils, climate, an almost unoccupied niche, but there are also limiting factors:
Legislative restrictions on the cultivation of hemp, which requires constant monitoring by the state.
The inhabitants of Ukraine themselves know little about technical hemp and its value even for the most obvious areas - the textile and cosmetic industries. Not to mention the importance of the production of polymers, colorful products from hemp raw materials.
Both of these restrictions hinder the development of the hemp industry with the direct participation of Ukrainians, but give the green light to foreign investors. The vacancy of the market and fields encourages them to finance the industry and contribute to its development. Moreover, new varieties of industrial hemp are being developed that do not contain THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis. And this means that the resurrection of the hemp industry in Ukraine is a matter of time.