According to researcher at the Embrapa Swine and Poultry Concordia (SC), Irenaeus Jonas dos Santos Filho, the result "reflects the pricing of inputs used in production systems of broilers in which the group of inputs nutrition suffered a transient elevation in March 2012, mainly due to grain crop failures observed in southern Brazil."

For the year, ICPFrango / Embrapa accumulates a high of 9.68 per cent, again driven mainly by an increase in early 2012 prices of corn and soybean meal.

The cost of pig production measured by Embrapa decreased by 0.93 per cent in March. The ICPSuíno / Embrapa was 142.03, against 143.37 in February.

"It can be assumed that this result reflects the performance of the grain harvest in the agricultural market and, despite the high prices of inputs applied at the beginning of the year, the trend for the next two months is a shy deceleration in the prices of corn and also of soybean meal," says Embrapa's researcher.

Also there was a slump in the group of maintenance supplies due to the low market price of live pigs ready for slaughter, over which the rate was 2.3 per cent.