ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD admission and fellowship) · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersWhat quality means for food and farm products, how it is managed and measured, and the national and international standards that govern trade.
In the exams: agribusiness management PhD entrance and fellowship examinations, quality management (present)
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Quality Management & Food Standards. Difficulty: 20 easy, 42 medium, 20 hard.
| Total quality management | 15 | |
| Statistical quality control | 14 | |
| Concepts of quality | 12 | |
| ISO standards | 11 | |
| Grades and standards | 8 | |
| Food quality standards and world trade | 8 | |
| National standards bodies and national standards | 7 | |
| Codex Alimentarius | 5 | |
| National grading and certification marks for farm produce | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Cooking quality of a new rice variety, which the buyer learns only after cooking it at home, is best classed as:
A. An experience attribute
Experience attributes are known only after purchase and use. It is not credence, because the consumer does learn it after cooking; it is not search, because it cannot be judged by looking at the grain.
Further reading: Nelson (1970)
A dairy makes a basic-grade toned milk exactly to its specification every day. Which statement is correct?
C. Its quality of conformance is high even though its quality of design is modest
Quality of design is the level intended in the specification; quality of conformance is how closely output meets it. A basic product made exactly to specification has high conformance quality.
Further reading: Evans and Lindsay, Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence
A fruit packhouse downgrades 12 tonnes of mangoes from export grade to domestic grade after they fail an internal pre-shipment check. The revenue lost by downgrading is classified as:
B. Internal failure cost
The defect was found before the product reached the customer, so the downgrading loss is internal failure. It would be external failure if the buyer had rejected the fruit after delivery; the check itself is appraisal.
Further reading: Evans and Lindsay
A spice packer logs 300 complaints: foreign matter 120, torn pouches 80, short weight 40, caking 30, colour 20, others 10. What share of complaints do the two largest categories account for, as a Pareto chart would show?
C. 66.7%
Cumulative share of the top two = (120 + 80)/300 = 66.7%. Foreign matter alone is 40%; the top three reach 80%. The Pareto principle directs effort to the vital few first. 26.7% is torn pouches alone (80/300).
Further reading: Juran; Ishikawa
When produce previously sold ungraded at an average price starts to be graded, which sellers are most likely to lose?
D. Sellers of below-average lots, who were being cross-subsidised by the average price
The ungraded price is roughly a weighted average of grade values, so grading raises returns for good lots and lowers them for poor lots, removing the cross-subsidy.
Further reading: Akerlof (1970); agricultural marketing texts
Which joint FAO/WHO expert body evaluates pesticide residues and recommends maximum residue limits for Codex?
C. JMPR, the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues
JMPR assesses pesticide residues. JECFA covers additives, contaminants and veterinary drug residues; JEMRA covers microbiological risks; the General Principles committee handles procedure, not science.
Further reading: FAO/WHO
The phases of a Six Sigma improvement project (DMAIC) are:
C. Define, measure, analyse, improve, control
DMAIC is define, measure, analyse, improve, control. DMADV (define, measure, analyse, design, verify) is used for new designs.
Further reading: Pyzdek, The Six Sigma Handbook
Under the WTO SPS Agreement, the international standard-setting bodies for food safety, animal health and plant health respectively are:
D. Codex Alimentarius Commission, WOAH and IPPC
The three sisters: Codex (food safety), WOAH, formerly OIE (animal health and zoonoses), and the IPPC (plant health). ISO and UNECE standards are not named in the SPS Agreement.
Further reading: WTO SPS Agreement, Annex A
Under the SPS Agreement, a member that wishes to set a higher level of protection than the relevant Codex standard must:
B. Provide scientific justification, or base the measure on an appropriate risk assessment
Article 3.3 allows higher protection with scientific justification or as a consequence of the chosen level of protection based on a risk assessment (Article 5). Codex approval and compensation are not required; discrimination would breach the Agreement.
Further reading: WTO SPS Agreement, Articles 3 and 5
In the EC hormones dispute, brought by the United States and Canada, the WTO Appellate Body (1998) found the EU ban on beef from hormone-treated cattle inconsistent with the SPS Agreement mainly because:
D. The ban was not based on a risk assessment
The central finding was that the measure was not based on a risk assessment as Article 5.1 requires. Residues are an SPS matter, and the ban applied to all such beef.
Further reading: WTO dispute DS26/DS48
Ten here, 82 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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