Apart from cereals, volatility in prices of vegetables and fruits added to domestic price pressures. Also, inflation in protein rich food items continued to remain elevated due to significant price increase in eggs, fish and meat. The persistence of food inflation calls for a relook at the agriculture price policy of the country.
Further, there is a need to revisit the buffer stock policy as recent evidence reflects the absence of dampening of price rise even with availability of large buffer stocks. Another factor that is proving to be a major constraint in curbing food inflation is the rise in cost of agriculture largely driven by the rise in wage costs.