Economic Importance
Currently, 32 374 economic importance records exist in GRIN-Global
for the 16 314 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.