Agriculture, forestry and fish exports decline 6% on year   Farmers clasify lotus seeds for export at the northern province of Hung Yen's Phuong Chieu commune. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue HA NOI  (VNS) — Viet Nam's agricultural, forestry and fisheries product exports reached US$2.61 billion in April, with the sector's total export value during the first four months rising to $9.13 billion. This reflected a year-on-year decrease of 6 per cent. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the export value of major farm produce during the first four months brought home $4.47 billion, also down 6 per cent against the same period last year. Of these, the export value of rice and coffee saw a sharp decrease of 9.2 per cent and 39.3 per cent, respectively. The export turnover for seafood touched $1.87 billion, a fall of 16.6 per cent from the same period in 2014. The US remains Viet Nam's biggest seafood importer, accounting for 19 per cent of the total. Seafood exports saw growth in China (17 per cent), Thailand (13 per cent) and the Netherlands (11 per cent). Forestry products' export value increased by 6.7 per cent, compared with the same period in 2014, and reached $2.8 billion. During the January to April period, Viet Nam shipped an estimated 466,000 tonnes of coffee worth $970 million abroad, down 41 per cent in volume and 39.3 per cent in value. An estimated 1.95 million tonnes of rice was also sold to other countries for $849 million during the period, down 4.8 per cent in volume and 9.2 per cent in value. China continues to be the largest importer of Vietnamese rice, making up 27.3 per cent of the market share. Cashew nut exports recorded growth in both volume and value. During the period, Viet Nam earned $635 million from selling 85,000 tonnes of cashew products, up 36.3 per cent in value and 14.1 per cent in volume from the same period last year. Meanwhile, tea and pepper saw export volume slump, but its value increased. The country exported 33,000 tonnes of tea and 56,000 tonnes of pepper for $54 million and $513 million, respectively. — VNS