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

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 ...