A price-support intervention responds to an abnormal market or seasonal shock. The February 2026 budget speech proposed Rs 500 crore for a Price Stabilisation Fund in 2026-27 and described earlier intervention for produce including mango, onion, cocoa and tobacco. A fund allocation is capacity to act; actual purchases, payments and market effects are separate facts. Not every crop is automatically covered at a guaranteed price because a fund exists.

Public procurement for paddy has its own rules, quality requirements and payment chain. The speech gave dated figures for procurement payments in February 2026. A farmer may also sell privately; procurement totals are not the same as total state output. A crop price can be affected by harvest timing, storage, transport, quality and demand. An intervention may benefit sellers but must also consider consumer prices and fiscal cost.

Exam questions often confuse input support, output-price support and insurance. Annadatha Sukhibhava supports farm investment; a procurement payment buys produce; insurance compensates an eligible loss under policy terms. They differ in trigger and beneficiary evidence.

Worked example: A price-stabilisation fund and procurement agency can both respond to market distress, but they are different instruments. Procurement buys eligible produce under defined conditions; a fund can finance specified market interventions. A higher announced outlay is not automatically a higher farm-gate price. Ask which crop, market, agency, purchase record and payment rule apply before claiming that a farmer benefited.

Active recall: Give the trigger and payment basis for investment support, procurement and insurance. Why does BE provision not establish intervention expenditure?