The technologies of cotton cultivation in Ukraine and the possibility of providing farmers with seed material were discussed at the seminar "Cultivation of Niche Crops" chaired by the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Taras Vysotskyi.
The event was attended by members of the Ukrainian Parliament, representatives of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the State Consumer Protection Service, the State Fisheries Agency, the Odessa Regional Military Administration, scientific institutions, international experts, and agricultural producers.
Taras Vysotskyi noted that Ukraine has a strategic need to cultivate cotton as raw material for import substitution and for processing and meeting domestic needs. In particular, it is proposed to create and develop a cotton cluster in the Odessa region. Therefore, it is important to adopt an appropriate law that would allow the importation of cottonseed into Ukraine for the development of the industry.
Seminar participants also learned about the experience of cotton cultivation by entrepreneurs in Turkey and the USA.
For reference, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis the draft Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Expansion of Cotton Varieties in Ukraine" No. 10427-1. The document provides for simplifying the procedures for importing and circulating cotton varieties in Ukraine, primarily during the period of martial law. It also provides for simplifying the procedure for state registration of cotton varieties without conducting qualification expertise.
