Keep farmers in fields to combat inflation

China - China's agricultural system may have to undergo overhaul if it wants to survive the nation's soaring inflation, says an expert.

Government reports revealed that China inflation stood at a high of 8.3% last month, as prices of food and harvests came to a standstill with the snowstorm that hit southern China early this year.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said the country had adjusted its CPI target for the year from 3.5% to 4.8% earlier this year even as inflation hit highs of 8.7% in February.

While many analysts are sceptical of the target, professor Liu Lingling from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University told local media that this is possible if the Chinese economy is able to undergo an overhaul.

She was cited as saying that more farmers in the country have given up their rural livelihoods to work in the cities for better income. However, to combat inflation, the Chinese government may need to re-think the system and move toward building specialised agricultural zones like those in the US.

This would encourage farmers to stay in the fields, she said.