LITHUANIA

Executive Summary

Lithuania's mild climatic conditions are suitable for dairy and meat production, horticulture and arable crops typical of the country's latitude. The main arable crops in Lithuania are cereals, oilseed rape, potato, sugar beet, flax and fodder crops. Agriculture and processing industries concentrate on food, fodder and seed production. The textile, starch, alcohol, sugar and pharmacy sectors are well established.

Oilseed rape is the largest oil crop in Lithuania with relatively short traditions of growing for oil. The area under oilseed rape in 2003 was 66,800 hectares. Production is for edible oil and exports. Only a few hundred tonnes were processed domestically for biodiesel. Recently, processing capacities have been constructed and biodiesel can be produced in significant amounts, if the economic environment is favourable. Flax seeds were traditionally used in Lithuania for a wide range of applications. Growing true linseed was started in Lithuania in 1995. The area is limited to a few hundred hectares (400ha in 2003), with production used for linseed oil preparations for wood impregnation, cosmetics and pharmacy. This crop has good prospects for development in Lithuania. Castor, poppy, safflower, soya, garden cress and mustards were investigated and gave some positive results, but wider commercial use of these crops in the near future is doubtful.

Flax is a traditional crop in Lithuania. The area under fibre flax in 2003 was 9,000 hectares. The annual flax long fibre demand is about 6,000-7,000 tonnes. Linen thread is used in the following way: 55% for weaving of fabric for clothing industries; 20% for furniture upholstery; 15% for household use (tablecloths, table-napkins, towels, sheets, curtains etc.); 10% for other technical needs (packaging materials etc.). Factories use by-products in different ways (produce and market insulation material, shives briquettes for heating, etc.). The market for flax as a raw material for cellulose will most likely remain limited, because of cheap wood raw material.

Willow (Salix) is grown as plant for wickerwork on a dozen hectares.

Carbohydrates are the largest group which covers the major arable crops: wheat, barley, sugar beet and potatoes. Grain and potatoes are used in spirits; potato - for starch; sugar beet - for sugar production. The potato starch industry, with a production capacity of 8,500 tonnes per year, is underused at the moment. More than half of starch production is used in non-food industries (mainly cardboard, paper and textile production). Grain is considered an important potential source for biofuel (ethanol) production.

Specialist crops occupy a very limited percentage of the total agricultural land, but have a large potential for development in economic terms. A variety of species grown in Lithuania have medicinal and aromatic properties, and potentially can be of interest for the domestic and foreign markets. In 2001 there were 214 growers with a total area of 3125 ha under the medicinal and etheric plants (mentha, caraway, etc.) and 45 growers with crops such as tobacco, hops - a total of 111 hectares. Caraway is a major crop in the specialist crop group with an area of 6,500 hectares in 2003. Camomile, Calendula and other plant species occupy about 250-300 hectares and are widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Seed production for grasses for amenity lawns is of growing importance. Estimations show that the area of such lawns in Lithuania is approximately 130,000-150,000 hectares.

Interest in the cultivation of non-food crops today in Lithuania is increasing. However, there is limited experience of non-food industrial applications, and significant improvement can be expected with the investment and know-how coming from the most advanced EU countries. A scarcity of legislative and economic measures directed to the development of non-food crops industrial application today is a major barrier in Lithuania.