Shal­iza Has­sanali

New­ly ap­point­ed Food Pro­duc­tion Min­is­ter, De­vant Ma­haraj, yes­ter­day shied away from com­ment­ing on ris­ing food prices. The Cen­tral bank in its re­po-rate an­nounce­ment on Fri­day said re­cent da­ta re­leased by the Cen­tral Sta­tis­ti­cal Of­fice showed head­line in­fla­tion, mea­sured by the 12-month in­crease in the in­dex of re­tail prices rose from 11.8 per cent to 12.6 per cent.

Food prices-main­ly fruits and veg­eta­bles-were the main dri­ver of head­line in­fla­tion ac­cel­er­at­ing to 28.3 per cent, up from 26.1 per cent in April. "On a 12-month ba­sis, fruits and veg­etable prices rose by 41.4 per cent and 45.2 per cent, re­spec­tive­ly, in May (com­pared with the 48 per cent and 34.3 per cent in April."

Ma­haraj said, "Un­til I have a bet­ter sense of what the min­istry has been do­ing from the last re­port from the Cen­tral Bank, which showed that food in­fla­tion was down, I would com­ment." Ma­haraj said he need­ed to find out what caused the in­crease. "It would not be re­spon­si­ble if I just come out and make any wild state­ments."

Ma­haraj said he in­tends to meet some farm­ing groups in Cen­tral next week to con­tin­ue the work of for­mer food pro­duc­tion min­is­ter Vas­ant Bharath who had im­ple­ment­ed a 2012 to 2015 ac­tion plan to turn around the agri­cul­ture sec­tor. He said he was study­ing the plan. Ma­haraj will meet di­vi­sion­al heads at Cen­teno to­mor­row, he said.

The new min­is­ter promised to hold reg­u­lar dis­cus­sions with farm­ing com­mu­ni­ties to ad­dress their con­cerns. "This is with a view to in­crease food pro­duc­tion to re­duce the coun­try's $4 bil­lion food im­port bill." Mean­while, pres­i­dent of the Na­tion­al Food­crop Farm­ers' As­so­ci­a­tion Ter­rence Hay­wood said farm­ers need to ramp up food pro­duc­tion to re­duce in­fla­tion.

Hay­wood said he knows for a fact that paw­paw has been scarce on the mar­ket. "Many of the paw paw fields in the coun­try were wiped out due to dis­eases. So cus­tomers have to pay a pound and a crown for this fruit." In some mar­kets, Hay­wood said, paw­paw which was sold at $4 per pound, is now be­ing re­tailed at $6 and $7. In Port-of-Spain, five small gala ap­ples which sold for $10 are now priced at four for $10.

Pears lovers now have to dig deep­er in their pock­ets as the three for $10 bar­gain at some fruit stalls have stopped. It is now sold at $4 each. Red grapes have jumped from $18 to $20 a pound.