New Delhi, April 14 -- India's upcoming Kharif season faces a "double whammy" from a likely below-normal monsoon linked to El Nino conditions and ongoing tensions in the Gulf region, raising concerns over farm output, food inflation and rural demand, experts told ANI.

Highlighting the macro risks, Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist at CareEdge Ratings, said the interplay of climatic and geopolitical factors could aggravate supply-side pressures. "The rising risk of El Nino in the current fiscal year is likely to aggravate existing supply-side pressures... particularly those stemming from the West Asia crisis," she noted.

On the historical impact of El Nino, Sinha added, "El Nino years have been associated with an average contraction of 5.4 p...