Sumy Hemp Fest - a promising future

It is necessary to expand the boundaries of information awareness not only of the population, but also of government bodies, law enforcement officials and officials at various levels; improve the legislation for the normal functioning of modern hemp breeding and maximize the attraction of investments for the development of the domestic high-value-added products sector, interesting not only to the national consumer, but also with significant export potential.

From August 17 to August 18 in with. Garden (10 km from Sumy), the second national hemp breeding festival was held, positioned as an event in support of the industry in the northern region of our country. Indeed, the development of any sphere of life is not possible without actively informing a wide range of potential consumers about the prospects and characteristics of the market, which is much more relevant for the industry in light of the indifference of state officials to the problems of hemp breeders in Ukraine. 

The Sumy region has long been associated with hemp breeding, since back in 1931 the All-Union Bast Crop Research Institute was established in Glukhov, whose main task was to provide the industry with modern varieties and scientifically based technologies for the production of hemp plants. The organizers of the festival the above historical retrospective was expanded and not only scientific achievements in the field of cultivation and processing of technical hemp, but also old folk traditions of the use of hemp food, textile and knitwear, other goods preserved from the time of “hoary antiquity” are presented at the exhibition.

The initiators of the festival initiated demonstrations of ancient technologies for producing hemp thread, as well as hemp cloth manually using wooden machines and spindles, various folk traditions of hemp products consumption in bread and confectionery products, several other options for the simplest use of hemp grain derivatives are presented. 

It should be noted that modern Ukrainian hemp breeding cannot actively develop, using only folk traditions and the classical directions of processing the seed portion + a little bit of the plant stem do not make it possible to compete effectively in the international hemp market. Analysts, experts and those few entrepreneurs who have succeeded in the realities of the domestic market note that the success of Ukrainian hemp breeding will come only with the expansion of production of the popular modern hemp product with high quality indicators, satisfying not so much the national as the European market. The most demanded today are segments of medical, cosmetic, construction, biocomposite, energy and textile hemp breeding. Unfortunately, the above areas were not present at the festival, and the presented expositions differed in that they demonstrated the simplest forms of processing - i.e. mainly exhibited products with minimal added value, which overwhelmingly, unfortunately, is not competitive in the international market. 

In particular, the food direction was represented by hemp oil, protein, bran, flour, hemp coffee (the simplest forms of processing hemp seeds). Hemps made handmade textiles, and only samples of non-woven materials, as well as final hemp fiber products made from them, were exhibited by one of the companies specializing in deep processing. Unfortunately, the existing factories of primary processing, as well as manufacturers of final products, ignored the event.

The only company at the exhibition, which tried to present a medical line for the use of hemp plants, gathered a significant number of visitors to the event near its location, which testifies to the active interest of consumers in this production sector, and therefore its huge untapped potential for the Ukrainian market. Here one could not only hear about the peculiarities of the use of hemp in the medical field, but also “taste” the extract from hemp seeds. It should be noted that this company is only a distributor of hemp products and does not produce it on the territory of Ukraine, which is a negative consequence of the imperfection of domestic legislation in the field of hemp breeding and sometimes its complete absence as a regulatory lever for the Ukrainian economy, which can protect the interests of the domestic market, and not hindering its development. 

At the same time, several companies specializing in the production of biological active / feed additives, cosmetics, electronic cigarettes and many other highly profitable products based on technical hemp of a therapeutic nature, developed technologies and products of which are in extreme demand on the world market, could not be represented at the festival, since this area is not regulated by the current legislation of Ukraine and our specialists are forced to provide extremely effective hemp products abroad and even to demonstrate they can not be in our country.

Today, both for the industry as a whole and for individual enterprises, it is important to manifest various forms of demonstration of the existence of a domestic cannabis producer. In this regard, various festivals, fairs, round tables, seminars and conferences contribute to the formation of a positive image of not only the industry, but also hemp production in general, the “socialization” of hemp traditions, which were undeservedly squeezed out of our life in the last century through the denigration of plants and the identification of technical cannabis with drug-containing and socially dangerous marijuana, the identification of unfilled market niches and the imperfection of the current legislation hampering the development of the industry. Hemp Fest and other events that influence the popularization of Ukrainian hemp traditions can become the norm for different regions of the country, which should be welcomed by local and central authorities, becoming the basis for maintaining business investment in the industry, creating conditions for replenishing not only budgets various levels, but also helping the population to benefit from a huge arsenal of therapeutic properties of the plant. 

The main conclusion based on the results of the event is that it is necessary to expand the boundaries of information awareness not only of the population, but also of government bodies, law enforcement officials and officials at various levels; improve the legislation for the normal functioning of modern hemp breeding and maximize the attraction of investments for the development of the domestic high-value-added products sector, interesting not only to the national consumer, but also with significant export potential.