Current Good Agricultural Practices (CGAP) and Good Cultivation Practices MCQs With Answer

Introduction: Current Good Agricultural Practices (CGAP) and Good Cultivation Practices (GCP) are essential for producing high-quality medicinal plants and herbal raw materials suitable for pharmaceutical use. This blog provides focused multiple-choice questions tailored for M.Pharm students to strengthen understanding of cultivation standards, quality control points, environmental and biosecurity considerations, and documentation required for regulatory compliance. Questions emphasize practical applications such as site selection, seed certification, soil and nutrient management, integrated pest management, harvest handling, traceability and linkages between agricultural practices and downstream pharmaceutical quality. Use these MCQs to test and deepen your grasp of how agronomic decisions directly affect phytochemical consistency, safety, and regulatory acceptance.

Q1. Which of the following is a primary objective of Current Good Agricultural Practices (CGAP) in medicinal plant cultivation?

• Maximizing production at the expense of quality
• Ensuring consistent quality, safety and traceability of raw plant materials
• Eliminating all use of fertilizers and pesticides
• Standardizing pharmaceutical manufacturing processes

Correct Answer: Ensuring consistent quality, safety and traceability of raw plant materials

Q2. In the context of Good Cultivation Practices, what is the most important reason for conducting pre-planting soil analysis?

• To determine the nearest market for produce
• To identify nutrient deficiencies, pH imbalances and contamination risks
• To estimate labor costs for cultivation
• To select packing materials for harvested herbs

Correct Answer: To identify nutrient deficiencies, pH imbalances and contamination risks

Q3. Which propagation method is preferred for maintaining genetic fidelity when cultivating a clonally uniform medicinal crop?

• Asymbiotic seed sowing
• Sexual reproduction by open-pollinated seeds
• Vegetative propagation (cuttings, tissue culture)
• Random bulk seed sourcing

Correct Answer: Vegetative propagation (cuttings, tissue culture)

Q4. Which practice most directly reduces pesticide residues in harvested medicinal plant material?

• Applying pesticides at double the recommended dose
• Observing recommended pre-harvest intervals and integrated pest management
• Harvesting immediately after pesticide application
• Using only synthetic broad-spectrum pesticides

Correct Answer: Observing recommended pre-harvest intervals and integrated pest management

Q5. Traceability in CGAP primarily requires documentation of which of the following?

• Only the final extraction process used by the manufacturer
• Seed and planting source, field location, agronomic inputs and harvest records
• The exact retail price of finished herbal products
• Only the name of the farmer

Correct Answer: Seed and planting source, field location, agronomic inputs and harvest records

Q6. Which of these soil management practices supports sustainable production of medicinal plants while preserving active constituent profiles?

• Continuous monocropping without soil amendments
• Regular soil testing, crop rotation and organic matter incorporation
• Frequent heavy tillage to remove all residues
• Applying heavy nitrogen-only fertilization every season

Correct Answer: Regular soil testing, crop rotation and organic matter incorporation

Q7. What is the primary role of Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) guidance issued by WHO for herbal medicines?

• To provide step-by-step extraction procedures for industry
• To offer recommendations to ensure quality of medicinal plant materials from collection and cultivation
• To regulate retail sales of herbal products
• To standardize clinical trial designs for herbal drugs

Correct Answer: To offer recommendations to ensure quality of medicinal plant materials from collection and cultivation

Q8. Which post-harvest handling factor most affects the phytochemical stability of medicinal plant material?

• Color of the harvesting tools
• Timely drying at controlled temperature and humidity to avoid enzymatic degradation
• Storing fresh material in sealed plastic for weeks without drying
• Immediate freezing in liquid nitrogen for all crops

Correct Answer: Timely drying at controlled temperature and humidity to avoid enzymatic degradation

Q9. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) used within CGAP emphasizes which of the following approaches?

• Relying solely on chemical pesticides weekly
• Combining biological controls, cultural practices and minimal targeted pesticide use
• Eradicating all insect life from the farm ecosystem
• Using genetically modified seeds without monitoring

Correct Answer: Combining biological controls, cultural practices and minimal targeted pesticide use

Q10. Which monitoring parameter is most critical to document for regulatory compliance of herbal raw material quality?

• Daily weather forecast for the region
• Batch-wise pesticide residue analysis, heavy metal content and microbial limits
• Number of workers employed in the farm
• Retail shelf presentation of finished products

Correct Answer: Batch-wise pesticide residue analysis, heavy metal content and microbial limits

Q11. Why are voucher specimens important in medicinal plant cultivation and collection?

• They provide visual marketing materials for producers
• They serve as authenticated reference specimens for botanical identification and traceability
• They replace the need for chemical analysis
• They are used to feed livestock on the farm

Correct Answer: They serve as authenticated reference specimens for botanical identification and traceability

Q12. Which fertilization strategy helps maintain consistent concentrations of active constituents in medicinal plants?

• Applying unbalanced high nitrogen without monitoring
• Soil nutrient balancing based on analysis and use of organic amendments
• No fertilization to stress the plant intentionally
• Frequent foliar sprays of unknown proprietary mixes

Correct Answer: Soil nutrient balancing based on analysis and use of organic amendments

Q13. What is the significance of harvest timing (phenological stage) in CGAP for medicinal plants?

• Harvest time is irrelevant if drying is proper
• Active constituent levels and marker compounds vary with growth stage, so correct timing ensures optimal potency
• Early harvest always gives the highest yield of actives
• Harvesting at night always prevents contamination

Correct Answer: Active constituent levels and marker compounds vary with growth stage, so correct timing ensures optimal potency

Q14. Which practice is considered a critical control point to prevent cross-contamination between different medicinal plant batches?

• Using the same drying racks for all crops without cleaning
• Segregated fields, dedicated equipment and cleaning protocols between batches
• Mixing harvested materials intentionally to average quality
• Tagging batches verbally without records

Correct Answer: Segregated fields, dedicated equipment and cleaning protocols between batches

Q15. How does biodiversity-friendly cultivation contribute to long-term pharmaceutical quality of herbal resources?

• By reducing genetic variability to a single clone
• By supporting ecological balance, pest control and resilience that preserve consistent phytochemical profiles
• By eliminating natural predators completely
• By encouraging monoculture for simplified harvesting

Correct Answer: By supporting ecological balance, pest control and resilience that preserve consistent phytochemical profiles

Q16. Which record is essential to demonstrate compliance with CGAP during an inspection?

• List of local shopkeepers
• Detailed cultivation log including seed lot numbers, input use, dates of application and harvest records
• Daily personal diaries of field workers
• Photographs of the farm only

Correct Answer: Detailed cultivation log including seed lot numbers, input use, dates of application and harvest records

Q17. Which contamination risk must be specifically controlled because it can alter therapeutic safety of herbal materials?

• Ambient noise levels near fields
• Heavy metals, mycotoxins and pesticide residues in plant material
• Color of the packing boxes
• Type of shoes worn by harvesters

Correct Answer: Heavy metals, mycotoxins and pesticide residues in plant material

Q18. What is the relationship between CGAP/GCP on farm and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in the pharmaceutical supply chain?

• They are unrelated and applied independently
• CGAP/GCP ensure raw material quality and traceability which is a prerequisite for GMP-compliant manufacturing
• GMP replaces the need for any agricultural controls
• GMP mandates only packaging standards

Correct Answer: CGAP/GCP ensure raw material quality and traceability which is a prerequisite for GMP-compliant manufacturing

Q19. Which audit practice improves continual compliance with CGAP on medicinal plant farms?

• Performing no internal audits to avoid paperwork
• Regular internal audits, corrective actions, and periodic third-party verification
• Only external audits once every ten years
• Relying on verbal assurances from suppliers

Correct Answer: Regular internal audits, corrective actions, and periodic third-party verification

Q20. For conservation of medicinal plant germplasm and ensuring consistent phytochemistry, which approach is most appropriate?

• Collecting wild stock without documentation
• Establishing authenticated seed banks, documenting ecotypes and using quality-controlled propagation material
• Using mixed seed lots of unknown origin to boost diversity indiscriminately
• Relying solely on spontaneous wild harvest each year

Correct Answer: Establishing authenticated seed banks, documenting ecotypes and using quality-controlled propagation material

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