Prices of agricultural products in Turkey rose by more than 17 percent in April compared to the same month last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said Monday.

Prices as measured by the producer price index (PPI), which gauges prices charged by farmers for crops and livestock, showed a 17.25 percent year-on-year rise.

There was a 2.05 percent price rise from March to April, TurkStat said.

The greatest monthly hike was in perennial crops, which rose by 9.10 percent from March. Non-perennials rose 0.86 percent while livestock and animal products increased by 0.34 percent.

Officials have repeatedly cited increasing food prices as the reason for annual inflation, which reached 11.87 percent in April.

Prices in citrus fruits sub-agricultural group increased by 2.95 percent, followed by vegetables with 1.24 percent, leguminous crops and oil seeds with 1.17 percent and for rice (in hulk) with 0.58 percent. There were decreases for live poultry and eggs and fibre plants by 8.94 percent and by 3.23 percent, respectively.

The government established a food committee as spending on food reached 22 percent of income in among the poorest fifth of the population.

On May 7, the committee decided to take a number of measures such as increase storage and monitoring standards in order to control prices.