A newly updated interactive website seeks to provide data on the production patterns by providing spatially disaggregated crop production estimates for 42 crops around the globe. Developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the newly updated website, called Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM) at www.mapspam.info, pinpoints the production of crops - such as rice, cassava, potatoes, wheat and maize--down to the pixel level at a resolution of five minutes (about ten kilometers at the equator). The result is highly-accurate global data that can aid policymakers seeking to ensure that local food production is optimized to meet demand, that farmers get the highest possible yields, and that food is grown sustainably.
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