With the introduction of high yielding varieties, expansion of irrigation facilities, increased application of yield enhancing inputs and farm mechanization, the agricultural sector has transformed itself from subsistence to a commercial sector.  However, the overall economic condition of a vast majority of farmers is far from being satisfactory owing to their inability to realize reasonable returns from the output they produce.  An important deficiency that has been posing problem to both producers and consumers in the maraketing process is ‘lack of grading of farm produce’. Grading is the process of sorting the unlike lot of the produce into uniform classes according to certain intrinsic quality factors and physical characteristics that include moisture content, foreign matter, admixture, extent of damage, extent of immature produce, pest infestation, weevil attack, and extent of shriveled produce. Jowar and maize are the two important cereal crops of northern Karnataka, which are not only the most important staple food crops for a majority of people, but also the source of income. Belgaum and Haveri are two northern districts, which are the top maize producers in the state, while Bijapur is the largest jowar producing northern district. Further Dharwad district is an important jowar producer.  The present study is on the development of grade standards for these two crops in northern Karnataka. Samples were collected during the crop year 2006-07.  The total sample size was 120. For each cereal crop, two leading varieties were selected and 30 samples from each variety were selected.  Altogether, 28 quality and non-quality variables were considered in the study.  In order to include quality and non-quality variables, it was necessary to assign specific sub-classes to these variables. Through the assigning of sub-classes, it was possible to take into account the fact that the various quality and non-quality variables may have separate deterministic effect on the response. It was hypothesized that eye-sight grades deviate from scientific grades quite significantly and that they do not reflect the actual quality of the produce. In order to test this hypothesis, it was necessary to determine scientific grades. This was accomplished on the basis of scientific measurements of all quality characteristics.