Taxonomic Information on Cultivated Plants in GRIN-Global




Economic Importance

Currently, 37,753 economic importance records exist in GRIN-Global for the 18,831 taxa for which economic plant data are provided. GRIN-Global economic data are classified to two levels adapted from the Economic Botany Data Collection Standard (Cook, 1995). In total, 16 classes are recognized, including 13 from this Standard: food, food additives, animal food, bee plants, invertebrate food, materials, fuels, social uses, vertebrate poisons, non-vertebrate poisons, medicines, environmental uses, and gene sources, with the addition of classes for weeds, harmful organism hosts, and CITES-regulated plants. Note that two of these added categories plus vertebrate poisons do not represent beneficial uses but are mostly negative in their economic impact. The 16 classes are further subdivided into 113 subclasses. Data on gene sources, considered of minor importance in Cook's reference, will be linked to crop wild relative data by 2019 and will no longer appear with other economic importance data. Sources of economic data are referenced in GRIN-Global. A thorough discussion of GRIN-Global economic data can be found in World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference.