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SIMFEROPOL, May 31. Industrial hemp began to be grown in the Zaporozhye region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Policy of the region reported.
«Sowing was carried out on three variety testing sites, namely in the Kuibyshevsky and Veselovsky districts of the Zaporizhia region. The total area of crops is more than 2 hectares,» the statement said. 
Seven breeding varieties approved for use in the territory of the Russian Federation are undergoing testing. Hemp raw materials can be used to produce fiber, fabrics, oil, paper, and medicines. Its cultivation improves soil microflora, reduces the number of weeds, and minimizes the use of pesticides.
«After conducting quality tests, the grown crop will be used to produce hemp — coarse bast fiber, the production of which is a potentially large investment project that will help develop the region's light industry,» the report says. 
Deputy Prime Minister of the regional government for the agro-industrial complex Svetlana Shevchenko, in turn, said that the development of technology for cultivating industrial hemp can give impetus to investment.
«This year, specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture at variety testing sites are studying the technology of crop cultivation, sowing dates, seeding rates, its yield in our climate,» Shevchenko said.