Agriculture prices slightly down

The agriculture producer and input price indices fell by 0.34 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively during the first quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year.

The National Statistics Office said the producer price index stood at 98.99, a drop of 0.33 points (-0.34 per cent) from 99.32 points.

Underpinning this result was a drop in the fresh vegetables price index (-9.78 per cent) due to falling prices of cauliflowers by 19.21 per cent and marrows by 55.77 per cent respectively.

The input price index registered a slight decline of 0.16 per cent, from 108.27 points in the first quarter of 2006 to 108.11 points in the first quarter this year.

This was mainly due to a decrease in the index of goods and services consumed in agriculture by 0.17 per cent, the NSO said.