The duty cuts and export restrictions imposed by the government to control inflation may only have a marginal impact, economists have said.

The long-term solution, they say, is to boost agricultural production to enable the sector to ride out of the current slump.

"We have to live with a relatively high level of inflation for another four-five years unless structural changes are urgently brought about in the farm sector," said Saugata Bhattacharya, vice-president, Axis Bank.

An economist with an Indian commodity exchange said the government had done nothing for a lasting impact on prices.

"There is no huge incentive for farmers like hybrid seeds and better availability of fertilisers, measures which will enthuse them to undertake more production," he said.

"The government needs to ensure a fair price for agricultural produce. This can happen only if it assesses the domestic demand-supply situation correctly. Lack of accurate data is also harming the price situation," he added.

Experts also point at physical market deficiencies between the farmer and the consumer.

"The food price inflation shown by the wholesale price index is not the correct measurement of the price situation faced by a consumer as he pays much higher price than the wholesaler. The government needs to reform the physical market to limit the inflation faced by the consumer," said an economist.

While a committee set up under the Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen on futures trading of essential commodities is yet to submit its report, Left party leaders have revived their demand to ban futures trading of commodities holding that it is speculative trading in such items is driving up their prices. However, analysts believe it is factually incorrect.

"A ban put on the futures trading of food items like wheat, rice tur and urad have not helped in containing their prices either. Their prices are at a all time high now," the commodity exchange official added.

Government had suspended futures trading in tur and urad from January 24, 2007, and in wheat and rice from February 28, 2007.