Vietnam has set to earn 1.2 to 1.3 billion U.S. dollars from pepper exports by 2020, a recent planning of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) revealed on Thursday.

According to the planning, Vietnam will strive to maintain a pepper grown area of 50,000 hectares across the country by 2020, with productivity of three tons per hectare.

The country's annual output is set to be 140,000 tons, Vietnamese government's e-Portal quoted the planning as saying on Thursday.

In June alone, Vietnam exported some 16,000 tons of pepper worth 127 million U.S. dollars, bringing the country's pepper exports in the first six months of this year to 111,000 tons, up 36.2 percent year on year, said a recent report posted on the website of MARD on Thursday.

During the six-month period, Vietnam earned 790 million U.S. dollars from pepper exports, up 47.8 percent year on year, the report said.

Vietnam's average pepper export price in the first five months enjoyed an increase of 6.95 percent year on year to hit 7,013 U.S. dollars per ton.

Since 1996, pepper cultivated areas have been expanded, with an increase of nearly 30 percent, reaching over 52,000 hectares by the end of 2004.

The country's largest pepper producers are located in the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Dak Nong, and southern provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

In 2013, Vietnam exported over 119,000 tons of pepper, earning 808 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 4.2 percent in volume, but an increase of 10.4 percent in value year on year, making Vietnam the top pepper exporter in the world, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.