The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index fell for the first time in half a year in July, pushed lower by falling prices for grains and cereals, FAO said Thursday.

The drop in the overall index was modest, just 0.8 percent, but it reverses a five-month trend of rising prices that erased nearly half the ground from a nearly-two-year period of falling prices that preceded it.

Grains and cereals, the largest component in the index, slipped 5.6 percent based on good weather conditions in wheat growing areas in the United States. The drop took place despite a slight rise in rice prices.

Prices for oils and fats also fell, retreating 2.8 percent. But all the other sectors saw prices rise, with dairy prices up 3.2 percent, meats trading 1.3 percent higher, and sugar prices jumping 1 percent.

FAO said with no fundamental change in the markets, it was possible the fall in the index in July could be short-lived.

The next installment of the FAO index, which is based on a basket of 55 goods and 73 price quotations in five major food commodity groups, will be released on Sept. 8.

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