Source and quality of the raw material is an important determinant in the quality control and standardization of herbal drugs. Such variations multiply during storage and further processing. Due to the inherent variability of plant material, batch-to-batch variation starts from the collection of raw material. Using cultivated plants under controlled conditions instead of those collected from the wild can minimize most of these factors. Following accepted good agricultural practices (GAP) and good manufacturing practices (GMP) can play a pivotal role in ensuring quality of herbal drug products. GAP involves right seed selection, growth conditions, use of fertilizers, harvesting, age and part of the plant collected, time and method of collection, drying and storage. Active principals may be destroyed by enzymatic processes that continue for long periods from collection to marketing resulting in variation of composition. Thus using uncontaminated plant material, right temperature of processing, exposure to light, method of extraction and other GMPs largely influences the quality of herbal drugs. Thus GAP and GMP are an integral part of herbal drug quality control.