THE CONTRIBUTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL IRRIGATION TO AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT IN THEEASTERN UNITED STATES
Abstract
The objectives of the study are three in number:1. Analyze, on a regional basis, the factors which have an important influence on the location of irrigation in the eastern United States.2. Estimate, by use of regional production functions, the productivity of inputs used in agricultural production with irrigated cropland as one of the inputs.3. Project to 1980 the irrigated acreage which could be expected by region and for the humid ares as a whole.The eastern United States, as defined by this study, consists of thirty-one states which were divided into seven types of farming regions. These regions were designated as the Northeast, Lake States, Corn Belt, Appalachian, Southeast, Delta and Florida.In the analysis of factors affecting the location of irrigation, multiple-regression was the primary tool of analysis. The effects of variables hypothesized to measure moisture conditions, concentrations of high value crops, local demand for high value perishable crops, and forces exerted by crops which are peculiar to certain regions such as cotton and rice on the percentage of cropland irrigated were analyzed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics
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