Workers package processed baby cucumbers (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Fruit and vegetableshave surpassed traditional farm produce such as rice, rubber, tea, and cashewnuts to become a major foreign currency earner in the agricultural sector.
Fruit and veggie exports first exceeded the one-billion-USDmark in 2013 and went on to set new records year after year, reaching 3.5billion USD in 2017, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.
Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit &Vegetable Association Nguyen Huu Dat said in 2017, Vietnam successfully openedthe door of some demanding markets for several types of fruit, exporting dragonfruits to Australia, and mangoes and star apples to the US.
The country’s fruits and vegetables are beingsold in 40 countries and territories around the world, including the US, Japan,the RoK, Australia and New Zealand. China topped the list, consuming 75 percentof Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports, followed by Japan, the US, the Republicof Korea (RoK) and the Netherlands.
[Fruit, veggie exports set record of 3.45 billion USD]
Developing large-scale production is of great importanceto achieve sustainable export and increase local produce’s competitiveness inthe global market, Dat said, noting that large-scale production will make iteasier to ensure consistent product quality.
He also suggested developing production chains fromsupplying saplings and tree cultivation to product purchasing, processing andexports.
Businesses operating in the field called fordeveloping processing in order to increase added values of products.-VNA
VNA
