International specialized exhibition of modern hemp breeding in Lithuania

For the first time at the international level, the private Ukrainian breeding company Hemp Selection Center introduced the Mriya variety of technical hemp of therapeutic orientation officially registered in Ukraine (the amount of THC is up to 0.05%, CBD is about 3%). In particular, in a presentation prepared for the Lithuanian audience, the author of the variety, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences I. Laiko, demonstrated the versatility and economic feasibility of growing and processing precisely the “Mriya”, which is effectively used to treat serious illnesses, including chronic ones. 

On February 28-29, 2020 in Kaunas (Lithuania), the international specialized exhibition “Cannabis Hub.LT-2020” was held on the basis of Vytauto Didziojo universitetas University in Kaunas (Lithuania). As part of this event, an international conference was held on the attractiveness of hemp business, modern technologies for growing plants, storage and processing of products, as well as solving problems related to the further development of hemp entrepreneurship in the Baltic States and EU countries, including the need to improve the current regulatory framework , which impedes further development of the industry in Lithuania.

One of the most important goals of the forum was to develop the most promising and profitable hemp business sectors using financial support from the European Union and attracting historically close countries of Lithuania - Latvia, Ukraine and Poland - to international cooperation.

In order to understand what is happening in Lithuania, it makes sense to share certain impressions and draw conclusions about what is happening in Lithuania in refraction to national hemp breeding. To this end, we will provide basic information that determines the development of Lithuanian hemp breeding:

- in a country with incomparably worse climatic conditions, as well as not so high-quality soils as in Ukraine, in 2019, about 9 thousand hectares of industrial hemp crops were cultivated (one of the three leaders in countries cultivating the maximum number of technical hemp crops in Europe);

- More than 2/3 of crops - varieties of technical hemp of a therapeutic orientation, designed to produce "green mass" used primarily for medical purposes;

- the country has destroyed its own breeding base, so there is a dominance of technical hemp varieties of French, Romanian, Polish, Finnish selection, therefore both government agencies and representatives of the Lithuanian business are extremely interested in establishing mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukrainian companies, primarily in order to acquire high-quality seed material;

- Extraction capacities are being created in Lithuania that are designed to work with hemp plants, but are currently working in the interests of other topics not related to Lithuanian hemp breeding;

- the entire industrial volume of the grown crop of "green mass" is sold outside the country. Small companies are trying to fill the domestic market with national products, which include leaves and inflorescences of technical hemp varieties of therapeutic orientation (food, drinks, cosmetic products, etc.);

- the country actively uses EU subsidies aimed at compensating the costs incurred by agricultural producers in connection with the cultivation of industrial crops of technical hemp;

- the field of hemp breeding is rapidly developing, aimed at processing straw / trusts and in the future obtaining high-quality textile material;

- there is an acute shortage of modern technologies for sowing and processing the most highly profitable crops;

- At the moment, a legal framework has been prepared (not yet adopted) that removes from the "gray zone of law" the possibility of legal extraction of drug-free cannabinoids from technical hemp varieties of therapeutic orientation.

Conference held within the framework of the exhibition

Results of the stay of the Ukrainian delegation in Lithuania:

- The experience of the services provided by the Hemp Consulting information and analytical platform was extremely interesting for the representatives of Lithuania, Latvia, as well as Germany attending the conference. In the EU countries at the moment there are no structures that use the accumulated knowledge in the field of industrial hemp breeding so effectively and comprehensively to implement various kinds of projects related to the cultivation and processing of the most highly profitable crops. The practical experience of an information hub specializing in research, analysis of information circulating on the market, as well as processing and systematization of the obtained data, implemented as existing highly profitable projects in the modern hemp breeding market, interested not only private companies, but also representatives of Lithuanian government agencies involved in escorting activities of the hemp sector of the country's economy;

- For the first time at the international level, the private Ukrainian selection company Hemp Selection Center introduced the Mriya variety of technical hemp of therapeutic orientation officially registered in Ukraine (the amount of THC is up to 0.05%, CBD is about 3%). In particular, in the presentation prepared for the Lithuanian audience, the author of the variety, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences I. Laiko, demonstrated the versatility and economic feasibility of growing and processing precisely the “Mriya”, which is effectively used to treat serious diseases including chronic ones;

- The developments of Ukrainian specialists related to the treatment of a number of ailments, including severe forms of cancer with biologically active additives, made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of Mriya, were met with extreme interest. The audience was impressed by the practice of using the therapeutic properties of hemp, which clearly demonstrates the possibility of using the “ensemble effect” of technical plant varieties for the treatment of severe, including chronic, diseases (neurodegenerative, pain-related, autoimmune, oncological, musculoskeletal, etc.) ;

- Speeches at the conference of the leader of the Ukrainian seed market, the head of Avekon company V. Yakimchuk, which revealed the potential of the seed market of Ukraine, as well as explaining agronomic techniques and methods of working with industrial hemp crops used in our country, were extremely relevant to increase the yield;

- Lithuanian businessmen were interested in certain developments of Ukrainian specialists in the food and cosmetic sectors of modern hemp breeding, in particular, those of Ecosvit company in the production of hemp seed kernels, as well as Natural Cosmetics company, which presented 15 names of cosmetic preparations manufactured on the industrial scale in the territory Ukraine.

As a result of participation in the Cannabis Hub.LT-2020, members of the Ukrainian delegation that are members of the Ukrainian Technical Cannabis Association concluded a number of cooperation agreements and agreed to participate in several joint projects financed by the European Union Partnership Funds.

Topics of expositions presented at the exhibition

Food

               Cosmetics                                                                                Supplements and Vitamins

Construction

Commentary of the Ukrainian Technical Hemp Association

During the next training course for students in the Hemp University , held in April 2020, representatives of the Ukrainian delegation will share their impressions of the international specialized exhibition Cannabis Hub.LT-2020, as well as a conference held on its basis. The audience will be able to discover the potential of introducing not only Ukrainian products to the EU market, but also explain the trends that are observed in Europe both in the field of industrial hemp breeding and in issues related to the use of plants for medical purposes.