As kharif crop harvesting gather pace, retail prices of key agricultural commodities including rice, sugar, mustard oil and onion are ruling at significantly higher levels compared to the previous year, according to the Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Experts attribute the market behavior to prospects of a decline in kharif production because of deficient monsoon impacted by El Nino, and elevated global prices of most items. The high prices threaten to stoke food inflation further in the coming months.