Agricultural, forestry and fisheries exports totalled US$1.3 billion in November, bringing the total for the first 11 months of the year to $14 billion, a decline of 6.94 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Nguyen Viet Chien, director of the ministry’s Information and Statistics Centre, said that export of agricultural products had not enough time to reflect the gradual recovery in the global economy.

All three sectors saw declines in export value during the 11-month period, with agricultural exports dropping 7.9 per cent compared to the same period a year ago to a value of $7.17 billion, while forestry products declined 10.8 per cent to a value of $2.45 billion and fisheries exports fell 6.28 per cent to a total value of $3.94 billion.*

For the first time in Viet Nam, advanced afforestation techniques have been used to buffer coastal areas from the sea.*

A joint Vietnamese-Belgian breeding project is helping to boost income for dairy farmers.*

The lack of rainfall would cause a wide-ranging drought in the northern areas and reduce the productivity of the upcoming winter-spring crop, according to the Central Hydro-meteorology Forecast Centre.*

Viet Nam has successfully used aeroponics in growing and propagating natural disease-free potatoes for the first time. This could help the plants grow healthier and quicker than plants grown by other methods, said researchers. *