Ecocrop

Ecocrop was a database used to determine the suitability of a crop for a specified environment. Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) it provided information predicting crop viability in different locations and climatic conditions. It also served as a catalog of plants and plant growth characteristics.

== History == Ecocrop first emerged in 1991 after planning and initial expert consultancies were completed concerning the development of a database. This system was developed by the Land and Water Development Division of FAO (AGLL) and was launched in 1992. The goal was to create a tool that can identify plant species for given environments and uses, and as an information system contributing to a Land Use Planning concept. In 1994, the Ecocrop database already permitted the identification of more than 1,700 crops and 12-20 environment requirements covering all of the agro-ecological settings of the world. Succeeding iterations of the database from 1998 to 1999 mainly involved improvements to the user interface. By 2000, the database included 2,000 species and 10 additional descriptors. This number was later expanded with the addition of 300 crop species.