The agricultural sector has recorded an export turnover of nearly 31billion USD this year, a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percent, theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on December 25.
Amongthe high export revenue earners were coffee, cashew, pepper and rice,the ministry said at a workshop held to review the sector's performancethis year and discuss plans for next year.
Farm produce toppingthe 1 billion USD export mark include rice, coffee, rubber, fruits andvegetables, shrimps, tra fish and forest products, the report said.
Itwas the first time that the export of Vietnamese fruits posted aturnover of more than 1.5 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 34.9percent.
The agriculture sector's GDP growth rate was 3.3 percent, higher than the set target of 3.27 percent.
Theresults can be attributed to positive changes made in the agriculturalrestructuring process and effective implementation of the nationalprogramme on building new rural areas, said Agriculture Minister Cao DucPhat.
Better disease prevention and control has also helped, he said.
Welcomingthe achievements, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said theagricultural sector still had great potential and advantages for furtherdevelopment.
He said this year's positive results would create the momentum needed for strong development of the sector in 2015.
However, he also pointed to several shortcomings.
Farmers'incomes remained low, the application of science and technology inagricultural production still lagged behind, there was gap betweenresearch work and their application in the field, and a lack of linkagesbetween farmers, scientists and businesses, he said.
Hai saidthe agriculture sector needs to continue its restructuring process,increase output and quality of produce, and become more competitive.
Hesaid the sector should implement policies to attract investment intoprocessing and stressed the need to develop more export markets for farmproduce.
Minister Phat said that the sector aims to increase itsproduction value by 3.5-3.7 percent in 2015 and reach an exportturnover of 32 billion USD.
Towards this, there would be addedfocus on research to produce better crop varieties, apply moderntechnology in processing and preservation as well as reducingpost-harvest losses, the Minister added.-VNA