The agriculture sector registered a growth rate of 2.8 percent this year amid many challenges and high input prices, according to a report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at a conference in Hanoi on Dec. 27.

In the 2006-2010 period, the average growth rate of the sector reached 3.36 percent per year, surpassing the set target of 3-3.2 percent and the production value rose by 4.93 percent per year, said the report.

In 2010, the country’s rice output reached 39.8 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent thanks to the increase of cultivated acreage to about 23,000 hectares. Besides ensuring domestic food security, Vietnam also exported 6.7 million tonnes of rice, up 750,000 tonnes over 2009.

Vietnam also grows many crops of high values such as maize, coffee, rubber, pepper, cashew, tea and vegetables for domestic consumption and export.

Thanks to favourable weather, the forest coverage increased from 37.1 percent in 2005 to 39.5 percent in 2010. In the 2006-2010 period, the acreage of newly-planted forests reached over 1,000 hectares, a rise of 9 percent over the set target.

Fisheries continued to affirm itself as key economic sector with a total output of over 5.1 million tonnes, an increase of 6.4 percent over last year.
This year, with a recovery of global economy and high prices, the agro-forestry-seafood export turnover increased by 22.6 percent compared to 2009, reaching 19.15 billion USD.

Seafood, wooden products and rice each recorded an export turnover of over three billion USD while rubber saw an export turnover of over two billion USD, and coffee and cashew earned over one billion USD in export turnover each./.