Author(s)

Yaw Adu Twumasi^1*, Edmund Chukwudi Merem², John Bosco Namwamba¹, Jacob Banafo Annan¹, Tomas Ayala-Silva³, Abena Boatemaa Asare-Ansah¹, Zhu Hua Ning¹, Judith Oppong¹, Priscilla Mawuena Loh¹, Diana Botchway Frimpong¹, Faustina Owusu¹, Janeth Ernest Mjema¹, Ronald Okwemba¹, Olipa Simon Mwakimi⁴, Brilliant Mareme Petja⁵, Caroline Olufunke Akinrinwoye¹, Joyce McClendon-Peralta¹, Hermeshia Jonee Mosby¹

¹Department of Urban Forestry and Natural Resources, Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
²Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.
³USDA-ARS Tropical Agriculture Research Station 2200 P.A., Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, USA.
⁴Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dares Salam, Dares Salam, Tanzania.
⁵Water Research Commission (WRC) Private Bag X03, Gezina, South Africa.

Mississippi State is renowned for its land resource areas (LRA) and production of bioenergy crops which generate both agricultural and economic benefits. Agricultural commodities play a key role in economic growth, therefore the ability to produce more would enhance development. This paper offers an analysis of the production of bioenergy crops in Mississippi. Relative measures, time series graphs and descriptive statistics coupled with geographic information systems (GIS) mapping using ArcMap were employed to generate the outcome of this research. The outcome of the statistical analysis indicated that corn and soybeans were the most produced crops in Agricultural Districts 10 and 40. These districts produced more bioenergy crops than the other districts. GIS mapping results also showed that the potential area for bioenergy crops is in zone 131 of the Mississippi Land Resource Area (MLRA). This zone has an absolute advantage in the production of these crops which includes the diversity of biomass production such as corn, cotton, soybeans, wheat, rice, barley, grain sorghum, canola, camelina, algae, hardwoods, and softwood. The paper recommends a constant GIS mapping and land management systems for each agricultural district in Mississippi to enable researchers and farmers to determine the factors which contribute towards the increasing and decreasing trends in the production of the bioenergy crops.

Land Resource Areas, GIS, Bioenergy Crops, Descriptive Statistics, Mississippi

Twumasi, Y. , Merem, E. , Namwamba, J. , Annan, J. , Ayala-Silva, T. , Asare-Ansah, A. , Ning, Z. , Oppong, J. , Loh, P. , Frimpong, D. , Owusu, F. , Mjema, J. , Okwemba, R. , Mwakimi, O. , Petja, B. , Akinrinwoye, C. , McClendon-Peralta, J. and Mosby, H. (2021) Land Resource Areas and Spatial Analysis of Potential Location of Bioenergy Crops Production in Mississippi. Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, 11, 187-214. doi: 10.4236/jsbs.2021.114013.