HANOI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is likely to earn 4.7 billion U.S. dollars from exporting vegetables and fruits this year, up from more than 3.5 billion U.S. dollars last year, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Monday.

At present, Vietnamese farmers are encouraged to grow fruit trees, vegetables and flowers and use more advanced farming techniques, while local and foreign firms provide them with more high-grade seeds and seedlings.

Vietnam is boosting export of both fresh and processed fruit and vegetables to traditional markets and new ones, the ministry said, noting that local litchi, longan, mango and dragon fruits have recently penetrated into big markets which have strict requirements for food safety.

In the first half of this year, Vietnam made total fruit and veggie export turnovers of 2 billion U.S. dollars, up 20 percent on-year.

During this time, China remained Vietnam's top fruit and veggie export market with turnovers of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.1 percent, followed by the United States and Japan.

The high growth in fruit and veggie export turnovers was mainly attributed to the wider application of clean production processes, and modern semi-processed and preservation technologies, according to Vietnamese agriculture and trade experts.