Economic botany concerns the past, present, and future use of plants by people.
It is a heterogeneous field practiced by scholars of diverse backgrounds who may be concerned with either basic or applied questions. In the past decade, economic botany has become less purely descriptive and more analytical, quantitative, and interdisciplinary. The field has also become more engaged with social questions Terraced rice paddies in Bali. Ray F. Evert. involving plants, such as sustainable development and intellectual property rights. The economic botany field in the 21st century will probably continue this evolution to become a powerful, if loosely integrated, discipline that will command the intellectual talents of some of botany's best and brightest students.