Food inflation inched up to 17.56 per cent for the week ended January 23 on account of rising prices of potato and pulses. The wholesale price-based food inflation was 17.40 per cent in the previous week. Potato prices jumped by 44.91 per cent over the lastyear, while pulses became dearer by 44.43 per cent. The inflation for primary articles, which include food and non-food items, marginally eased to 14.56 per cent in the reporting week. However on weekly basis, the price index for food articles declined by 0.1 per cent on account of lower prices of tea , arhar, urad, fruits and vegetables, ragi and eggs.