A recent fair showcasing safe fruit and vegetables in HCM CIty. — Photo congthuong.vn

Forty new enterprises in the agro-forestry-fisheries sector were set up in HCM City in the first three months of this year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The latest addition has brought the number of businesses operating in the field to 1,722, according to the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

During the period, the city's agricultural production value rose by 4.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the department.

In the reviewed period, HCM City-based firms exported about 490 tonnes of seeds, along with 10,000 honeysuckle trees worth US$12,000. They also shipped 5.21 million ornamental fish for $6.1 million.

As many as 1,354 organisations and individuals with a total cultivation area of 1,730ha in the city have received VietGAP certificates, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the total growing area in the city with an annual production of more than 213,000 tonnes.

Last year, fruit and vegetable plantations covered 20,500ha with a production of more than 580,000 tonnes, the department said, adding that this year, the city's growing area of safe vegetables was more than 21,000ha.

Furthermore, 41,200 tonnes of various seeds, including vegetables, corn and rice produced by agricultural enterprises in the city have been provided for more than one million hectares across the country, while 620 tonnes of seeds were exported, an increase of 28 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. — VNS