In spite of the cold weather, Shandong province is still delivering a vast array of fresh vegetables to tables across China and even to foreign countries like South Korea and Japan.

Produce exports from China's largest farm-products exporter rose 28.7 percent year-on-year from January to October.

They are expected to be worth more than $10 billion by the end of this year, according to the provincial commerce department .

Farm exports have had an average annual growth of 10 percent, and went from $6.9 billion in revenues, in 2005, to $9.7 billion in 2009, accounting for a quarter of the country's total amount.

The province was in first place in China for the 11th year running.

Shandong has more than 4,000 ag-export companies, more than 1,000 of which have international quality certification.

Its various farm products, from peanuts to vegetables and garlic to ginger and fruit, are exported to more than 150 countries and regions. It is a major supplier for South Korea and Japan.

In the first 10 months of 2010, it exported 2.56 million tons of vegetables, worth $3.1 billion, up by 79.9 percent over the same period of last year.

More than 65 million tons of vegetables were shipped to markets across the country. The wholesale vegetable market in Shouguang, the country's leading vegetable producer, handles 4 million tons of vegetables annually.

According to the provincial agriculture department, agriculture output value for the past five years rose 70 percent over that under the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005).

This year, it is expected to amount to 340 billion yuan ($51 billion). Total grain output is projected at 86.7 billion kg.

Per capita net income of farmers is estimated to reach about 6,800 yuan, a possible average annual growth of 11 percent.

The province has been pushing agricultural mechanization, and its irrigated land covers 5 million hectares.

About 78 percent of its farms are using machinery, an increase 2005's 59 percent.

Now, 97 percent of the wheat and 80 percent of the corn is harvested with machines.

"All kinds of crops in the province have been mechanized, throughout the entire production process," said Lin Jianhua, head of the Shandong Agricultural Mechanization Management Office.

The province has more than 8,000 companies in agriculture, with annual sales of more than 1 trillion yuan, or double the amount of the previous period.

The provincial government has made an effort to come up with technological innovations. It now has 334 State- and provincial-level agricultural-technology developments, and 352 new crop varieties.

During the first 10 months of 2010, its agriculture started 38 foreign-backed projects, bringing in $350 million in contracts, a year-on-year increase of 33.4 percent.

Over the past five years, 300 million yuan has been spent on subsidies for farmers, new technology, agricultural mechanization, and the amount of farmland operating under better standards now covers more than 5.3 million hectares.