Hemp areas in Ukraine could increase by 4.5 thousand hectares per year – forecast

Oleg Primakov, the head of the department of scientific research on intellectual property and marketing of innovations of the Institute of Bast Crops, predicts that the cultivation area of industrial hemp in Ukraine will increase to 4.5 thousand hectares by 2025. This is due to economic, political, and military risks that have reduced the sowing area in recent years, with only 3 thousand hectares sown in 2024, primarily in the Sumy, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv regions. Despite the Ministry of Agrarian Policy predicting an increase to 8 thousand hectares, Primakov is more conservative due to these risks. He stresses the importance of understanding the process and meeting new requirements for successful hemp cultivation.

In 2025, the area under industrial hemp may increase to 4.5 thousand hectares. This forecast was made by the head of the department of scientific research on intellectual property and marketing of innovations of the Institute of Bast Crops Oleg Primakov. He noted that since 2020, the area under industrial hemp was at the level of 3.5 thousand hectares, but after the start of a full-scale war, the area under crops decreased to 2 thousand hectares, and in 2023 - to almost 1.5 thousand hectares throughout the country. In 2024, farmers sowed only 3 thousand hectares, mainly in Sumy, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions. Previously, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy predicted that the area under crops could increase to 8 thousand hectares. On the other hand, Primakov is convinced that only about 4.5 thousand hectares will be able to be sown in 2024, because this is influenced by economic, political and military risks. We need to change the approach. If farmers correctly understand the ...