Agricultural Land Resources, Their Productivity and Use, Lower Mississippi Region

Excerpts from the report: This report by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture is a contribution to the Land Use and Management Appendix of the Comprehensive Plan of Development that is being prepared for the Lower Mississippi Region. The Lower Mississippi Region Comprehensive Study is a part of the Water Resource Council program to develop plans for comprehensive water development and management for all major river basins in the United States. The purpose is to facilitate the coordinated and orderly conservation, development, utilization, and management of the basin's water and related land resources. This report contains descriptions of the soil productivity groups in the Lower Mississippi Region and acreages of the soil groups by major use for each water resource planning area (Tables 1 to 11). The Lower Mississippi Region and Water Resource Planning Area's boundaries are shown in Plate 1. Estimated 1970 and projected 198O, 2000, and 2020 nonirrigated and irrigated yields of selected crops are presented in Tables 12 and 24. These yields assume a continuation of the historical rate of the adoption of new technology, better management, and other factors that have contributed to higher yields. Estimated 1970 and projected 198O, 2000, and 2020 yields of selected crops, assuming no resource development after 1970, are presented in Tables 25 to 34. In addition, this report contains selected crop budgets for the above soil productivity groups (Table 35).