TIRANA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The major part of Albania's exports to foreign markets and the European Union (EU) member states consists of vegetables and other agricultural products, Albania's state statistical office said Tuesday.

According to the data published by this institution, vegetables are giving a new impetus to the country's export figures as during 2017, 60 percent of vegetables produced here were exported to EU markets.

Data also showed that in 2017, Albania's agro-food products reached a total value of 31.4 billion lek (292.7 million U.S. dollars), up by over 5.2 billion lek compared with the previous year.

According to Albanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the progressive growth trend in exports is registering record figures, mainly due to the external high demand for Albanian fresh fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, citrus etc.

Meanwhile, the total volume of Albanian agricultural trade in 2017 amounted to 145.7 billion lek, registering a growth of 8.2 percent compared with 2016.

Currently, the Agriculture Ministry has approved a fund worth 20 million euros that will be used to subsidy farmers and increase agricultural exports.

On Tuesday, Minister Niko Peleshi also called on the young people to be involved and invest in agriculture, pledging full support to every start-up in this sector.

Also, agricultural experts said that the government subsidies and incentive policies were pushing farmers to expand cultivated land surface and increase domestic agricultural production.