Ukraine's first cotton crop harvest nears completion, projected to reach 30,000 hectares by 2025
Photo: Facebook / Vitalii Koval
The first cotton harvest on test plantations in Ukraine is nearing completion. The sowing area is expected to increase to 30,000 hectares by 2025.
The Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Vitalii Koval, reported that.
As per the official, test plots were established in Odesa this past spring at eight different farms and one research facility of the Ukrainian Institute of Plant Varieties Examination.
Photo: Facebook / Vitalii Koval
These are small plots with an area of 0.2 to 0.5 ha.
Farmers were given 110 kg of cotton seeds and planted them on over 5 hectares of land.
Photo: Facebook / Vitalii Koval
A total of five varieties of cotton were brought to Ukraine:
- two from the USA,
- two from Germany,
- one from Türkiye.
According to the minister, the sowing is expected to increase to 30 thousand hectares next year.
Photo: Facebook / Vitalii Koval
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy plans to implement suitable financing programs for farmers interested in pursuing this endeavor.
"Cotton is a crop used for the production of gunpowder. In times of war, this raw material is essential for Ukraine.
In addition, you can also produce fabric and oil from cotton," Koval said.
It will soon be determined whether domestic farmers can assist the defense industry and whether Ukrainian factories can at least partially overcome the shortage of raw materials and increase ammunition production.
According to Rubryka, there are plans to cultivate cotton in the Odesa region this year.
Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, noted that this is facilitated by ideal weather conditions and the plant's unique properties, "which are used not only in the textile and agricultural spheres."
Kiper said that draft laws are being considered in the Verkhovna Rada that would allow the registration of rights to cotton varieties, including genetically modified ones.
"If the changes in the legislation are adopted promptly, the sowing campaign can start already at the end of April, and this year, we will have the first harvest of Odesa cotton," the head of the region military administration said.
For reference:
In the 1930s, Ukraine produced cotton, creating over 1,500 specialized collective farms. Production reached its peak in the 1950s, when half a million hectares were cultivated.
A cotton processing factory was constructed in Kherson during the 1960s, and by the end of the century, it was one of the top ten largest factories in Europe.
Currently, this entire process needs to be mastered from scratch.
Before the large-scale war, the Kherson region produced 35-40% of Ukraine's total melon yield. Additionally, this year, a farmer from the Kherson region successfully grew the first watermelons in the Lviv region.
According to Rubryka, farmers in the Mykolaiv region have successfully produced a second vegetable harvest. This is especially noteworthy because these crops were grown on a large scale for the first time as part of an experiment to utilize land decommissioned in the Kherson region.
Additionally, experimental plots of winter flax from France were planted for the first time in the Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Ternopil regions.
In 2025, Ukraine plans to plant 8,000 hectares of industrial hemp.
